Given the current Coronavirus epidemic and the wide ramifications for Indian society at large, it is but natural for all examinations to be impacted as well. And that includes the CBSE board exam 2021 as well. And that’s why it’s important for students appearing for their respective 10th and 12th CBSE boards to check out the new syllabus for the coming academic year. In fact, CBSE had issued a new circular asking for the syllabus to be revamped and the examination patterns to be changed in view of the current pandemic and the overall impact on students and parents alike.

The CBSE circular has wide ramifications for the students. The circular hints at a revamped and reduced syllabus, with the academic year being split into two terms, and the syllabus being distributed between the two, at 50% per term. Just read on to know more about the CBSE board exam 2021, and the assessment pattern for the coming academic year as well. Granted that it is an anxious year for both parents and students alike,especially with both schools and colleges being closed for prolonged duration, due to the pandemic. And since most schools are planning to open up regular sessions,  it is but natural for the CBSE board to go in for a revamped syllabus as well as a revamped assessment pattern, to test the incoming students.

The new syllabus is yet to be released by the board but one can expect it anytime soon. But here’s what we know about the new syllabus and the testing pattern as well. It is inevitable for the CBSE to go in for a reduced syllabus, per subject, per term and that should provide the students with some much needed relief. It is one thing to pressure the student body to prep for the CBSE boards under normal circumstances, but these are anything but normal. And that’s why the syllabus is split into two terms, with 50% to be covered each term. The CBSE board will introduce the new syllabus each term, before the start of the term. And as the syllabus is bifurcated into two terms, the scoring pattern and weightage of marks per subject, per term is bound to change as well. The board will conduct the exams at the end of the term, and depending on the current circumstances, and the impact of the pandemic, the student body can expect more changes, guidelines to be enforced before the start of the term itself.

The CBSE board had introduced a syllabus pattern on March 31st, 2021 and it is widely expected that the boards will follow a similar pattern. The pattern that had already been released, tends to consist of the following –

• Internal assessment, in the form of tests, will be carried out for class 9 and class10 on a periodic basis. Similar testing patterns will be carried out for class 11 and class 12 as well. It should be noted that this internal assessment is carried out despite term 1 and term 2.

• The internal assessment would be carried out in the form of tests, exploratory tests and even practicals. This is done to gauge if the student in question has indeed paid attention in the class and has learnt his lessons.
• It should be pointed out that the internal assessments carried out by the CBSE in all its affiliate schools throughout the year, will be recorded and the data maintained in a digital format. It will then be uploaded to a central server, where a student profile, a record of all their assessment tests would be created. CBSE will naturally help its affiliate schools to upload the marks to the central server and to help create the profile.

• It should also be pointed out that at the moment all schools, including CBSE, are under strict orders to teach their subjects online, until further instructions. This means that the student body can expect to attend their classes online, until further notice/ news from the Government of India and the directorate of education.

The CBSE assessment pattern for the current academic year:

The CBSE syllabus has been revamped and it is but natural to expect these changes to extend for the assessment pattern as well – be it the internal assessments or the overall testing pattern. These are the changes that you can expect, for the academic year 2021-2022.

• As notified already, the CBSE has bifurcated the syllabus into two terms, with marks from the first term to contribute to the overall score of the student.
• The first term exams are to be held by November- December 2021 with each school pan India being allowed at least 8 weeks for the examinations to be conducted as per the CBSE circulars, guidelines etc.The actual exam dates will be announced later on.
• The duration of the exam is set for ninety minutes only and it will cover only 50% of the syllabus. It is widely expected that students may find this bifurcation a lot easier to handle, as the syllabus to review is shortened considerably.
• It is announced that the question papers will have multiple choice questions (MCQ), case based MCQs and reasoning type MCQs as well.
• CBSE will send the requisite question papers to its affiliate schools and guide them as well, as regards the new marking scheme. This should enable each affiliate school to carry out the examination as planned, without any hassle.
• The answers of the students will be captured on the OMQ sheets and these will be uploaded to the CBSE portal. This should enable the boards to enter the requisite test related data onto the students profile, and to keep track of the same, safely.

These are some of the changes that students can expect for the coming academic year, 2021-2022 as a result of the pandemic. Naturally, both parents and students are anxious under the circumstances but that is to be expected. The changes are expected to be rolled out soon, and not in a phased manner as some of the rumors may have had you believe. And that’s all the more reason, as to why you need to check back regularly, for the latest updates on the CBSE board exams.