NCF draft likely to recommend biannual board exams, liberty to opt a mix of subjects

Based on the new NCF, textbooks will also undergo revisions, starting with those published by the NCERT and used in CBSE-affiliated schools.

An expert panel appointed by the Union government is likely to recommend board exams twice a year, a semester system for Class 12, and the liberty for students to pursue a mix of science and humanities subjects to develop the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF), reported The Indian Express. These changes would weaken the rigid divisions between the arts, sciences, and commerce in classes 11 and 12 across school boards.

The structure of classes 9 and 10 would also significantly change once the suggestions, which are being developed by a 12-member steering committee led by former ISRO chairperson K Kasturirangan, are implemented with pupils needing to clear eight papers.

Presently, students in Class 10 need to pass at least five subjects across most boards, including CBSE. The committee is likely to recommend an annual system for pupils in Class 10.

As recommended in the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the system will also progressively move towards supporting "on demand" exams, said the report citing a person familiar with the ongoing discussions.

Conducting board exams twice a year for Class 12 will enable students to appear in courses they have completed and feel ready for. According to sources, the draft NCF document is almost finished and will soon be uploaded for public comment. Under the Congress-led UPA administration, the NCF was last updated in 2005.

The steering committee of the NCF is likely to propose that students complete 16 "choice-based courses" during Classes 11-12. "So, in theory, the student will have the freedom to pursue Physics, History and Mathematics, if she wants," said the report citing an anonymous source.

Based on the new NCF, textbooks will also undergo revisions, starting with those published by the NCERT and used in CBSE-affiliated schools. Several aspects of the classroom will also be changed, including choice of subjects, pattern of teaching, and how assessments are done using the NEP 2020 framework.

"What is being suggested is possible in theory, yes. But one will have to see whether this can be implemented given the current realities of how students enter higher education. If universities continue to stick to the science-commerce-arts segregation, then multidisciplinarity in school education will not work. In fact, students will not exercise that choice at all," said a committee member.