CBSE on Saturday released a revamped syllabus for the academic year 2022. Portions have been significantly reduced, and for Classes IX-XII, the syllabus has been divided into two terms. The students are required to sit for the term-end examinations and the CBSE has also said that they are planning on making the system more focused on projects and internal tests. The guidelines for conducting exams, internal tests have already been given to schools. The two terms will have distinct exam patterns. The first term will have MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions) only, whereas the second term will have a hybrid question paper pattern. These will be released in due course, added the board.
Students can access the syllabus at CBSE's official website, cbseacademics.nic.in. The move comes as part of ongoing changes in the CBSE's assessment policy. The reduction in the syllabus has been done with a view to avoid the cancellation of exams like they did for the past two years. With COVID affecting studies and exams drastically, it had become imperative for the board to reconsider the status quo when it came to the size and depth of syllabus, the students had to deal with in such a compromised environment for learning. Students had been demanding the shrinking of the syllabus for about a month now, once it became apparent that online classes were going to continue, and exams were cancelled. On Twitter #reducesyllabus has been trending as an increasing number of students across disciplines have been demanding consideration for their mental health and time due to the difficulties brought forth by the pandemic. The students had been demanding that the syllabus be reduced for the 2020-21 year as well, given classes have been happening online for almost two years now. However, the board had refused to do that.
It seems like the CBSE has taken into account the pressure students are facing because of the online classes, and their many voices appealing for some relief in the syllabus have borne fruit. Students have also been demanding to conduct exams online for convenience. It remains to be seen whether this demand will also be met by the board.
But that's not the only news from CBSE. A link that claimed to be the results portal for CLass 10 board exams 2021 was doing the rounds on social media on Friday. The officials later confirmed that it was a fake link. Reports said that the CBSE has seen a sudden spike of high achievers. The schools were supposed to upload the data on the portal by June 30 and after analysing that data, the CBSE saw the number of students who scored 95 per cent or more is unusually higher than last year. The schools have been asked to submit a new set of data by July 25, 2021.
