The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has rolled out its latest policy, termed the ‘Uniform Assessment, Examination and Report Card’.
The new system does away with the practice of awarding grades and replaces it with marks. Scholastic performance evaluated through written examinations will carry greater weightage than the combination of periodic tests, notebook submission and subject enrichment activity.
The new system also aims to bring about uniformity in the pattern of examination across all CBSE schools. As a first step in this direction, the Board has also issued a format of the report card along with its circular.
Let us look at some of the key features of the remodelled CBSE pattern to learn how it is going to affect students.
Key features of the new CBSE assessment scheme1. Parameters of assessment
According to the new guidelines, the parameters of assessment will be as follows:
a.Scholastic performance: Both marks and grades will be awarded for individual subjects.
b. Co-scholastic performance: Grades will be awarded for non-scholastic performance in three categories – Work Education (or prevocational education), Art Education, and Health and Physical Education.
c. Discipline: Grades will be awarded to students after evaluating their commitment to discipline, which includes attendance, sincerity, behaviour and values.
2.Weightage and examination pattern
a. For class IX
The pattern of examination for class IX will be similar to that of class X with only one exam at the end of the academic year. Out of a total of 100 marks, 80 marks have been assigned to written exams while the remaining 20 have been divided between three disciplines: periodic tests (10 marks), notebook submission (5 marks) and subject enrichment activity (5 marks).
b. For classes VI to VIII
Classes VI to VIII will have the same format of assessment. However, a class year has been divided into two Terms. So, students of these classes will have to appear for exams twice a year, i.e., at the end of each Term. While questions in the Term 1 exam will be based on the syllabus covered during that term, a certain percentage of questions in the Term 2 exam will be based on the Term 1 syllabus.
Benefits of the proposed system
- A uniform assessment system will help students whose parents have transferable jobs to migrate from one school to another easily.
- The marking system will motivate students better than the grading system, as students get a concrete idea of where they stand.
- The pattern of examinations under the new system will prepare students to handle the heavy academic workload of classes XI and XII.
Parents will have to ensure that their children go through this transition with minimum hassle.