There will be no common Board exams for CBSE Class X students from the next academic year (2012-13).
Students will have to take only school-based exams. Students were given the option of school-based exams or Board exams last year (2010-11). However, school-based exams will completely replace board exams from 2012-13.
As part of the continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) introduced by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the Board exam for Class X was made optional in 2010-11. This was done to ease the pressure that Board exams put on students. But, surprisingly, very few students opted for the school-based exams held in March 2011. Over 90 per cent of students in Andhra Pradesh opted to appear for Board exams.
This was largely because there were apprehensions among students and parents about the credibility of school-conducted exams compared to those conducted by the board.
Out of the nearly 20,000 students registered for Class X exams from the state for March 2011, around 19,200 opted for board exams and only 800 students registered for the school-conducted internal exams.
At the national level too the response was poor. Out of 9 lakh Class X students, nearly 6 lakh opted for Board exams.
This year, more students have opted for school-based exams that will be held in March 2012. In AP, about 40 per cent of students will do likewise.
“The first batch of Class X students who appeared for school-bas-ed exams in March 2011 will complete Class XII in March 2012,”said a senior CBSE official.
We will analyse the results of both, the students who opted for school-based tests and for board exams in March 2012, and post them on the website. Students, parents and school managements can see the difference for themselves as there was not much difference in pass percentage between both the exams," said a senior official of CBSE.
The question papers for the school-based exams will be supplied by CBSE, and only the evaluation will be done at school-level. But CBSE will conduct random verification of evaluated answer scripts to ensure that it is done in a proper manner.