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The Hindu
5 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Schools can take time to use mother tongue as medium: CBSE officials
Schools in metropolitan regions, whose primary medium of instruction is English, may find it challenging to immediately transition to mother tongue as a medium of instruction due to the varied languages spoken by students in diverse communities, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) officials said. CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh, speaking on the much-debated language implementation guidelines released by the board recently, said that the CBSE's goal is to ease the path of implementation of the National Education Policy-2020's requirement to teach students in their mother tongue until Class 5. Officials have admitted that the board's recent recommendation would be challenging for schools that have students who speak different mother tongues, as they may have to cater to each and every student separately. 'A limited number of schools in metros, around 800 to 900 such institutions, will face this challenge,' Mr. Singh said. Mr. Singh also said most of the over 30,000 CBSE schools in the country have a homogenous mix of students, according to their respective regions and States. For instance, if a school offers English and Kannada as language subjects, and if Kannada is the mother tongue of students, a non-language subject like Maths should be taught in Kannada, he said, explaining the latest guidelines. 'We are not forcing any school to immediately adopt the language implementation guidelines. We are not penalising any school or stating that their affiliation will be cancelled if they don't immediately transition. We are organising a series of webinars and workshops for training purposes and hopefully we will be able to implement the policy,' Mr. Singh said. Rashmi Vasudevan, principal of Pune-based Vibgyor Roots and Rise school said, 'We have a students from different linguistic backgrounds in the school. Of the 1,190 students, 60% are local Marathi-speaking children while 40% speak languages such as Bengali, Telugu and Assamese. We even have students who have come from abroad.' She further added, 'A strategy will be required to implement CBSE guidelines for such a diverse group. Planning curriculum in multiple languages will also be a humungous task.' However, Mr. Singh said the CBSE has instructed schools to conduct a language-mapping exercise to understand the language-mix of students. 'One strategy is to divide sections based on students' mother tongue preference,' he said. School officials also added that there are issues of dialects. For instance, Bihar has people who speak multiple dialects like Bajjika, which is spoken in northern Bihar; Angika which is spoken in parts of Bihar and Jharkhand; Magahi, spoken in certain parts of Bihar; and Awadhi, which is closely related to Hindi but distinct in grammar and vocabulary. It will be difficult to offer a medium of instruction in each dialect, they said. On the choice of languages being offered by the CBSE for senior classes, Mr. Singh said the current CBSE language implementation circular is limited to students studying till Class 5. 'The CBSE is awaiting the release of the syllabus by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), which follows the new National Curriculum Framework, in order to prepare the future scheme for choice of languages and board exams,' he stated.
Mint
6 days ago
- General
- Mint
CBSE board exams now twice a year: Is May attempt mandatory? Who can appear? Key FAQs answered
Worried about getting low marks in the Board exams? Don't worry—CBSE has introduced a helpful option. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 10 students will now be required to take their board exams in February, but if they're not satisfied with their scores, they'll have the chance to retake the exam in May, the CBSE announced on Wednesday. Explaining the rationale behind making the first phase mandatory for the students, CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh said it is being done to ensure that students take the exams seriously and the sanctity of the board exams is maintained. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has approved the norms for conducting board exams twice a year for Class 10, a move recommended in the new National Education Policy (NEP). "The first phase will be conducted in February and the second in May. The results for the two phases will be announced in April and June, respectively,' CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said. Yes. All Class 10 students must appear for the board exams in February as the primary attempt. Explaining the rationale behind making the first phase mandatory for the students, CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh said it is being done to ensure that students take the exams seriously and the sanctity of the board exams is maintained, as reported by PTI. No, the May exam is not mandatory. The second phase, scheduled in May, will be optional for students who wish to improve their performance. In case a student appears for both phases, the best score of the two will be retained. "If a student does not appear for three or more subjects in the first examination, he or she will not be allowed to appear for the second exam. Such students will be placed in the 'Essential Repeat' category and can take the examination only next year in the main exam in February," CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh said. 'Students whose results in the first examination are compartment will be allowed to appear in the second examination under the compartment category. Additional subjects will not be permitted after passing Class-10, students will not be allowed in stand-alone subjects,' he added. Students can choose to improve their scores in up to three subjects from the following: It is to be noted that sports students will be allowed to appear in the second phase in subjects which coincide with their sports events. Both examinations will be conducted on the full syllabus meant for the year and the scheme of studies and scheme of examinations will remain the same. Internal assessment, however, will be conducted just once, before the main examination. No. This policy is currently only for Class 10 students. It does not apply to Class 12 board exams. Only the higher score obtained in a subject—whether from the February or the May attempt—will be recorded in the final marksheet, as per CBSE policy. The lower score will be disregarded. If a student does not appear for three or more subjects in the first examination, he or she will not be allowed to appear for the second exam. In the new setup, the second phase of exams will be conducted in May, and the results will be declared in June. Also, students can attempt to improve their scores in three subjects instead of two, CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said.
Hans India
6 days ago
- Sport
- Hans India
Twice-a-year board exams for Class-10 from 2026: CBSE
New Delhi: From 2026, Class-10 students will be able to take CBSE board exams twice in an academic session, but it will be mandatory for them to appear for the first phase in February, officials said on Wednesday. The second phase scheduled in May will be optional for students who wish to improve their performance. In case a student appears for both the phases, the best score of the two will be retained, they said. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has approved the norms for conducting board exams twice a year for Class-10, a move recommended in the new National Education Policy (NEP). "The first phase will be conducted in February and second in May. The results for the two phases will be announced in April and June, respectively,' CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said. "It will be mandatory (for students) to appear for the first phase while the second phase will be optional. Students will be allowed to improve their performance in any three subjects out of science, mathematics, social science and languages," he added. Explaining the rationale behind making the first phase mandatory for the students, CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh said it is being done to ensure that students take the exams seriously and the sanctity of the board exams is maintained. "If a student does not appeared for three or more subjects in the first examination, he or she will not be allowed to appear for the second exam. Such students will be placed in the 'Essential Repeat' category and can take the examination only next year in the main exam in February," he said. "Students whose result in the first examination is compartment will be allowed to appear in the second examination under the compartment category. Additional subjects will not be permitted after passing Class-10, students will not be allowed in stand-alone subjects," he added. According to the approved norms, Class-10 students from winter-bound schools will get an option to appear for the board exams in any of the two phases. Similarly, sports students will be allowed to appear in the second phase in subjects which coincide with their sports events. The internal assessment will be conducted only once during the academic session.
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
CBSE offers 2 exams for Class 10: Taking first test mandatory
When the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) begins offering two board examinations for Class 10 students from 2026 onwards, all students will have to mandatorily appear for the first set of exams. Students will then be given an opportunity to improve their performance but will have to choose three subjects out of science, mathematics, social science, and the two language papers, going by the final policy for two board exams that the CBSE announced on Wednesday. So far, the CBSE has had a system of permitting students to write improvement exams in two papers. With the new policy, students can choose to improve their performance in three subjects. CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh attributed the decision to make the first exam mandatory and to limit the number of papers that a student can give in the second exam to a need to ensure seriousness of the main exam. 'There has to be a practical limitation imposed to inject seriousness into the main exam, which is the first exam. The child should attempt the first board exam seriously,' he said, pointing out that the second exam is a 'optional, additional opportunity for the purpose of improvement'. If a student has not appeared in three or more subjects in the first exam, they will not be allowed to appear in the second exam. They will only be allowed to take the exam in the next year, under the 'essential repeat' category. An exception is being made for students of schools in winter-bound areas, including Ladakh, parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Himachal Pradesh. 'There may be snow in parts of the country in February. If students in these areas are not able to make it for the first exam, they can choose to appear for only the second set of exams,' Singh said. The decision to offer two board exams is in line with the NEP 2020, which envisions one main examination and one for improvement 'to eliminate the high stakes aspect of board exams'. The first exam will be held from mid-February onwards, as has been the case so far. The results of the first exam will be announced in April. The student will then get to decide if they want to give the second exam, and the list of candidates for the second exam will be prepared separately. The second exam will be held in May, with the results expected in June. The better of the two scores will count towards the final result. Students who may not have cleared the first exam can give the second in the 'compartment' category. Singh said an outer limit of June 30 has been set for the declaration of the results of the second exam. This marks a difference from the existing system of students giving improvement papers in July, and getting their results in August. The CBSE plans to eventually extend the two-board exam policy to Class 12. When it does, the same outer limit of June 30 is likely for the results of the second exam for Class 12, keeping in mind the marks needed for college admissions. On conducting two board exams for Class 10, CBSE had issued a draft scheme in February this year and sought feedback. Overall, 64% of students responded in favour, Singh said. The draft policy had not specified that the first exam would be mandatory for all students. It had also not set a limit on the number of subjects in the second exam.
Hans India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
CBSE approves biannual class 10 board exams from 2026; Second exam optional
Starting from the 2026-27 academic year, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct Class 10 board examinations twice a year, aligning with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020's recommendation to reduce the high-stakes pressure of a single exam attempt. Announced on June 25, 2025, CBSE's new policy mandates that all students appear for the first exam in mid-February. Students who pass this attempt may opt for a second, optional exam in May to improve scores in up to three academic subjects—specifically, Mathematics, Science, Social Science, and two language papers. 'This initiative provides students with a 60% opportunity to improve their performance, focusing on key academic subjects,' said CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh. Results for the first exam will be released in April, while improvement exam results will be declared in June. Controller of Examinations Dr. Sanyam Bhardwaj clarified that the second exam is not available to students who skip or fail in three or more subjects during the first exam. These students will be marked as 'Essential Repeat' and can only appear in the next academic year. However, students failing in one or two subjects will be placed in the 'Compartment' category and allowed to appear in the second session. From 2026-27, compartment exams will be merged with the improvement exam schedule in June—eliminating the separate July session. Students will still receive three chances to clear compartment status: first in June, the second with the next year's main board exam, and the third with the following year's improvement schedule. Additionally, students who passed using a replacement subject can attempt the failed subject again during the second exam, if it is required for future academic or career pathways. CBSE officials emphasized that this policy aims to promote serious participation in the first exam while also providing structured flexibility for academic growth.
