Lok Sabha Question No. 2253 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-02
Subject: Changing CBSE Pattern
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Keshari Devi Patel, Chirag Paswan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2253 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.12.2019

## Changing CBSE Pattern

## †2253.  SHRIMATI KESHARI DEVI PATEL: SHRI CHIRAG KUMAR PASWAN:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  change  the  pattern  of  tenth  and  twelfth class of Central Board of Secondary Education for the session 2019-20;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to reduce pressure of examinations on the students; and
- (d) the details of changes that Government proposes to incorporate in the curriculum to ensure qualitative education for the students?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

(a) and (b): The  Central  Board  of  Secondary  Education  (CBSE)  has  introduced  the following changes in the examination pattern to be effective from the session 2019-20 with  an  aim  to  discourage  students  from  rote  learning  and  to  develop  critical  thinking and reasoning abilities:

-  Reduction  in  Number  of  Questions:CBSE  has  curtailed  the  number  of questions  asked  in  the  examination  for  all  major  subjects.  This  has  been reflected through the Sample Question Papers available at the Boards website. This will ensure that students don't find the paper to be too lengthy to complete in the stipulated time of 3 hours.
-  More Internal Choices: - The Board also provided internal choices for students in at least 33% questions in all major subjects.
-  Increase in Number  of Objective  Type Questions and reduction in Descriptive  (subjective  questions):Objective  Type  Questions,  which  are essentially  1  mark  questions,  will  be  around  twenty  five  percent  in  all  major subjects  from  2020  examination.  This  will  reduce  subjectivity  on  the  part  of

examiner.  However,  in  order  to  promote  creativity,  the  marking  schemes  of CBSE specially directs all evaluators to award full marks to alternative innovative descriptive answers that are otherwise correct.

-  Internal  Assessment  in  All  Subjects: -  In  order  to  make  assessment  holistic and  continuous,  CBSE  has  extended  internal  assessment  to  all  subjects  for Class 10 and Class 12. Internal Assessment will amount to 20 marks in total in subjects where there is no practical assessment.

(c) and (d): As  far  as  CBSE  is  concerned,  the  Board  has  taken  many  measures  to make  students  stress  free  especially  with  reference  to  classroom  transaction,  Board examinations and to ensure quality education. Some of these measures are as under:

-  Introduction  of  Experiential  Learning  from  2019-20  onwards:In  order  to promote self-thinking, creativity and effective study skills among students and to make  them  lifelong  learners,  CBSE  has  introduced  Experiential  Learning  from 2019-20  session  onwards.  Accordingly,  the  schools  will  plan  the  curricular activities  in  such  a  way  which  enable  students  to  connect  the  content  of  their learning  areas  and  subjects  with  their  own  lives  and  the  world  around  them. Schools use multiple ways to teach a subject to suit the different learning style of learners.  The teacher pupil ratio in  CBSE schools has been as low as 1:30 to make student friendly teaching learning possible.
-  Two Level Examination in Mathematics: -As per National Curriculum Framework  (NCF),  not  only  would  the  two  levels  of  examinations  cater  for different  kinds  of  learners  and  allow  different  levels  of  testing,  it  would  also reduce overall student stress levels. Keeping in view the above aspect and as evidenced by the Board results, the Board has decided to introduce two levels of examination in Mathematics for the students of Class X who are going to appear in the Board examination for the academic session ending March 2020 onwards.
-  Mandatory Sports: -  In  order to promote life skills and values education, CBSE has integrated Health and Physical education with academics. Every school has to provide one period per day for sports which leads to better stress management for children and also creates a better environment for learning.
-  No  Homework  and  No  School  Bags  till  class  II: -  In  addition  to  above provision,  CBSE has also published guidelines on Alternative to Homework for classes' I-VIII.
-  Proscription  of  Corporal  Punishment: -  The  Board  has  banned  corporal punishment in the schools affiliated to it.(Cir July 20, 2002).
-  Guidelines for prevention of Bullying and Ragging: - The Board has published the guidelines for prevention of Bullying and Ragging in Schools vide circular no 17/2015 March 9, 2015.
-  Restructuring the question papers: - The Board has introduced a component of twenty  percent  internal  assessment  in  all  the  subjects  including  humanities
- subjects  to  make  examinations  more  relevant  and  practical  based  instead  of theory  oriented  which  results  in  rote  learning  and  cause  stress.  The  question paper  will  also  have  33  percent  options  and  more  questions  on  higher  order thinking  skills  in  comparison  questions  based  on  rote  memorization.  This  will ensure  a  shift  from  content  based  testing  to  problem  solving  and  competency based testing.
-  Change in Marking Scheme: -  This year the marking scheme prepared for the evaluators  highlighted  that  priority  has  to  be  given  to  creative,  correct  and relevant  answers  given  by  students  other  than  the  ones  mentioned  in  the Marking  Scheme.    This  has  been  done  to  encourage  students  to  have  better conceptual  understanding  and  to  be  able  to  overcome  issues  related  to  rotelearning and rote-evaluation.
-  Additional  time  to  read  question  papers :-  15  minutes  of  additional  time  to students, during Board examination, for reading the question paper before they begin to write the answers.
-  Provision of pre and post examination telecounselling :- CBSE provides pre and  post  examination  telecounselling  facilities  through  centralized  toll  free helpline. CBSE experts also answer queries of students through weekly question answer columns published in national newspapers. Students can also log on to www.cbse.nic.in, and interact on exam related issues. The Board has published material on how to be stress free and various techniques to avoid stress. This is available  at  http://www.cbse.nic.in/examstress.htm.  CBSE  approached  parents through a letter before Board examination 2019 and requested them to ensure that  there  should  not  be any  stress or anxiety  conveyed  to  the  child  from  their side.
-  Availability of Counselor & Wellness Teacher :- As per the affiliation Bye-laws of  the  CBSE  every  Secondary  and  Senior  Secondary  school  shall  appoint  a person  on  full  time  basis  for  performing  the  duties  of  Counselor  &  Wellness Teacher.

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