2021 CBSE Board Exams May Not Include All Topics, Suggests NCERT

NCERT has suggested that topics under self-study category may be covered in internal assessment and not board exams.

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A draft proposal prepared by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) has suggested that students appearing for class 10 and 12 examinations to be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in 2021, may be allowed to study certain topics only for internal assessment conducted by the school and not for the final board exam, reports The Indian Express.

According to the report, the NCERT has advised against reducing the syllabus as it could have a ‘detrimental effect’ and create gaps in the learning process.

Instead, the council has suggested that topics should be divided into two parts – one to be taught by teachers and the other which can be learnt by the student in self study mode.

The age of industrialisation in History, area of a triangle and frustum of a cone in Mathematics and the ‘Tyndall Effect’ on the eye in science are just some of the topics suggested under self study mode, questions from which could only be limited to internal assessment.  

The topics to be covered by students in self-study mode will include themes and concepts that have already been taught in previous classes and have been repeated with examples in class 10 or 12.

For example, ‘Tyndall Effect’ on the eye in science has been put in the self study category as the topic was already covered in the eighth grade.

While internal assessments conducted by schools, which comprise 20 marks for each subject, can be based on topics listed under the self-study mode, the topics taught by teachers could be included in the board examination syllabus.

Proposal Being Studied by Officials

However, it must be noted that these are mere suggestions and are yet to be presented to the Union Human Resource Development Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal, said a source in the know.

According to the source, “The draft proposal is being studied by the Secretary’s office and will then be presented to the minister. Only then can a final decision on it be taken.”

The Quint reached out to the NCERT chairman but has not received any response from him at the time of publishing this article.