Two board exams, subject flexibility: All your queries on new curriculum framework answered

Textbooks based on the new curriculum will be issued for the 2024 academic session.

The Ministry of Education has come up with a new curriculum framework for K-12 education, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), and has submitted it to the government.

Moneycontrol answers all the frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to the new framework:

Board examinations will now be conducted twice a year and students will be allowed to retain the best score. The purpose is to ensure that students have the time and opportunity to perform well.

“Students can then appear for a board exam in subjects they have completed and feel ready for,” said the ministry.

Students of classes 11 and 12 will have to study two languages with one being an Indian language.

The step is in line with NEP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent promise that the policy will give due respect and credit to every language in the country.

The choice of subjects in classes 11 and 12 will not be limited to the streams students have opted for, and they will have the flexibility to choose among options.

Currently, a student who opts for the commerce stream cannot elect to study a subject offered in, say, the science stream.

Without stipulating the exact time frame, the ministry said the school boards will develop capacities to offer 'on-demand exams'.

The concept revolves around offering freedom to students to appear for certain exams as and when they feel they are ready, as opposed to the traditional examination process.

The board exam test developers and evaluators will have to go through university-certified courses before taking up this work.

The new framework has noted that the current practice of assessing students based on 'textbook learning' will be avoided while stressing that the cost of textbooks should be 'optimised'.

Textbooks based on the new curriculum will be issued for the 2024 academic session.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on August 23 said that the government has given the curriculum to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). Two panels will examine it and prepare a syllabus accordingly.