Exam Reforms: CBSE To Introduce Improvement Examination From 2021

Bhubaneswar: As part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will introduce improvement examination from the year 2021.

As per sources, the board will introduce English and Sanskrit in 2 levels from the session 2021-22 (already offers Mathematics and Hindi at two levels). Competency based questions have been introduced in the Board exams for class X and XII in a phased manner, increasing by 10% every year, a release by PIB read.

The National Education Policy, 2020 is the third in the series of National Education Policies (1968 and 1986 modified in 1992) in India and is the first education policy of the 21st century.
NEP 2020 covers wider spectrum of school education from pre-primary to senior secondary.

The recommendations given have varied timelines as the policy is made for next 20 years. Therefore, the implementation of NEP is being carried out in a phased manner in the country.

To achieve the goals and objectives of NEP 2020, DoSEL has prepared a draft implementation plan with Task lists linking each recommendation with tasks, responsible agencies to carry out the task, timelines and outputs. The task list was shared with the States/UTs/Autonomous Bodies on September 10, 2020, to provide their feedback/suggestions till October 12, 2020.

Autonomous bodies of the Ministry of Education and 31 States and UTs provided 7177 suggestions/ feedback on the task list. These have been analysed by expert groups and important suggestions have been incorporated in the final version of implementation plan.

The major portions of NEP will be covered under the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and centrally sponsored schemes. Groundwork for NCF is initiated and it is likely to be developed in the next academic session, that is 2021-22.

The department has initiated implementation of NEP by undertaking following activities in accordance with the recommendations of the policy :

-To undertake 50 hours of mandatory continuous professional development of teachers, 18 modules of 4-5 hours each comprehensively covering all aspects of elementary education have been launched under NISHTHA on October 6, 2020 for in service teacher training (CPD) in the online mode on DIKSHA platform. This has so far seen more than 3.4 cr course wise registrations and 2.8 cr completions from more than 23 lakh teachers.

-In-principle approval has been given for setting up the National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission. A Committee has been formed for preparing framework on FL&N, codification of learning outcomes etc.

-E-learning has been expanded through DIKSHA. DIKSHA provides access to a large number of curriculum linked e-content through several solutions such as QR coded Energized Textbooks (ETBs), courses for teachers, quizzes etc. Till date DIKSHA houses over 3600 QR coded textbooks (tagged with e-content) from 29 states, 1.44 lakh e Contents and more than 300 courses.

-The department has launched an initiative called ‘Manodarpan’ for mental health and wellbeing of students. It aims to provide emotional support and counselling to the students under distress. Issuance of advisory guidelines, web page and national toll-free number, interactive online chat options and, national-level database and directory of counsellors are part of the initiative.

-MoU has been signed between Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) and NCERT to develop Indian Sign Language dictionary for school education.

-Learning Outcomes upto Secondary level have been notified and draft of learning outcomes for senior secondary level have been released for inviting suggestions.

- States and UTs are also constituting their own Task Force to steer implementation of the NEP provisions in their respective jurisdiction.

(With PIB Inputs)