Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Monday that beginning with the academic year 2025-26, students will be able to take 10th and 12th grade board exams twice a year. He stated that one of the goals of the new National Education Policy (NEP), which was unveiled in 2020, was to reduce academic stress on students. Pradhan emphasised the concept of implementing ten bagless days in schools each year, as well as engaging students in art, culture, and sports, among other activities.

Pradhan was speaking after launching the PM SHRI (Prime Minister Schools for Rising India) scheme in Chhattisgarh under which 211 schools of the state will be upgraded. The function was held at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay auditorium in Raipur. Highlighting the Centre's plan under the NEP 2020, Pradhan said from the 2025-26 academic session, students will get an opportunity to appear for 10th and 12th class board exams twice. According to the New Curriculum Framework (NCF) announced by the Ministry of Education in August last year, board examinations will be held at least twice a year to ensure that students have enough time and opportunity to perform well.

They will also have the option of retaining the highest score. When asked if the students present at the function were satisfied with the decision, the Union minister advised them to keep their best marks from both exams. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji's vision for the NEP is to keep students stress-free, provide them with quality education, connect them to culture, and prepare them for the future. "This is the formula for making India a developed country by 2047," he said. Pradhan slammed the previous Congress government in the state, saying education was not its priority, but the key sector has received utmost importance since the BJP came to power and new Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai took office in December last year.