CBSE Divides 2021-22 Academic Year into Two Terms - Reasons Behind It

In the view of cancellation of exams due to the ongoing situation across the country, the Central Board of Secondary Education has introduced a new type of assessment  for 10th and 12th standard this year. 

As per the new notification released by the board, with the new assessment shceme, the board exams shall be conducted twice in a year. The syllabus will be reduced in 2021-22 as there will be two terms. Through this, student's performance can be continuously monitored and recorded for preparing the final scores. 

The syllabus shall be divided with a systematic interconnectivity of concepts and topics by the subject experts. At the end of each term, the board will conduct the examiantion. 

The notification also said "the syllabus for the board examiantion 2021-22 will be rationalized same as previous year". 

CBSE Planned Division of Academic Year into 2 Terms

Here’s an overview of the key reasons behind the move:

The first term exam will be held between November and December 2021. It will be a 90-minute paper with multiple choice questions only that shall be conducted with the supervision of external superintendants. 

The second term shall be held in March or April 2022 which will be 2 hours examiantion with different format of questions. In case if there is unexpected situation again in the country, the board shall conduct second term also with multiple choice questions format. 

The CBSE will issue guidelines to make internal assessments, practicals and project work more credible and valid to ensure fair distribution of marks. For all assesments, schools must create student prfile which shall be uploaded in CBSEs IT Platform. 

If both term exams are held, the final theory marks will be equally split between the two. If the situation forces for school closures in November and December, the first term exams will be conducted online or in homes, and would carry reduced weightage in the final results.

If the schools will not be opened in the entire year, both the exams shall be conduted at home. The final result will be calcualted based on the internal assessment, projects and practical work.

Lastly, the notification issued by CBSE academic director Joseph Emmanuel said that “In all the above cases, data analysis of marks of students will be undertaken to ensure the integrity of internal assessments and home based exams.”