The Andhra Pradesh government has announced today, January 8, that first-year public examinations for Intermediate students will be scrapped beginning with the upcoming academic year.

According to Kritika Shukla, AP Intermediate Board's Secretary, the goal of this move is to reduce academic pressure on students. She noted that the changes are being implemented per the National Curriculum Framework Act, AP7AM reports.

Shukla went on to say that reforms would be adopted across all courses, including science, arts, and languages. Further, NCERT (National Council for Educational Research and Training) textbooks will be available to Intermediate first-year students.

She stated that this decision will benefit students preparing for national-level competitive exams such as NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test) and JEE (Joint Entrance Exam) because it is consistent with the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) curriculum.

As part of the changes, first-year public exams will be eliminated, and individual junior colleges would be in charge of internal assessments and evaluations. The Intermediate Board will continue to conduct second-year Intermediate public examinations.

The government has invited feedback and suggestions on these reforms until the 26th of this month.