Students enrolled in the academic session 2024-25 in grade 12 are expected to appear for two board examinations, if the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) draft is approved by the government. The draft guidelines released by the Ministry of Education last week proposes modular board examinations for 12th grade as against a single test at the end of the year. A slew of changes have been proposed in the assessment of grade 10th students as well.
As per the new framework, students at the secondary stage of education, which includes classes 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th, will be accessed based on their marks in the previous class. The policy proposes a comprehensive and continuous assessment of students as envisaged in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Currently, the draft framework is open for suggestions by the public.
FE Education looks at key changes at the secondary education level proposed by NCF
Before diving into the topic, it is essential to know that the secondary stage of education under NEP 2020 encompasses four years of multidisciplinary studies. This stage will be split into two phases, where grades 9 and 10 will be assessed jointly, while grades 11 and 12 will be evaluated together. As a result, the marks received in 9th grade will determine the evaluation of 10th grade, and the marks obtained in 11th grade will carry weightage in the assessment of 12th grade. Consequently, the board exams for grades 10 and 12 are proposed to undergo modification from the forthcoming year.
Understand the changes in the pattern of board exams
The National Curriculum Framework draft proposes to stick to split term examination for 12th grade, which was adopted temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic but rolled back later. The draft suggests it will help students to get enough time and opportunity to perform well in the final examinations.
However, for grade 10th, the framework says that splitting the calendar into two parts would be unnecessary. Therefore, it has been proposed that grade 10th will continue with the old annual examination pattern.
Nevertheless, if you go by the number of assessments suggested by NCF, grade 10th students will have to appear for eight ‘board examinations’ to be promoted to the next class. This will include all assessments held during 9th and 10th – combined. “The final certification will be based on the cumulative result of each of the examinations,” the NCF document reads.
Changes in design of grades 10th and 12th
Under the NCF draft framework, students are given increased flexibility and choice of subjects to study, particularly in secondary school – thereby allowing them to design their own curriculum. There will be no hard separation among ‘curricular’, ‘extracurricular’, or ‘co-curricular’, among ‘arts’, ‘humanities’, and ‘sciences’, or between ‘vocational’ or ‘academic’ streams, the framework suggests.
To pass grade 10th, students will have to complete two essential courses from each of the eight curricular areas available. A total of 16 essential courses across two years of grade 9 and 10 will have to be covered. The eight curricular areas include—humanities, mathematics and computing, vocational education, physical education, arts education, social science, science and interdisciplinary areas.
Likewise, in 12th grade each choice-based course would be for a semester. Students must complete 16 choice-based courses to complete 12th grade. The same set of eight curricular areas will continue to be on offer, but choice-based courses will be designed based on the disciplines within the curricular areas to ensure deeper and more rigorous engagement. Choice-based courses and their content will be designed on the basis of the specific nature of disciplines.
Implication on schools
All secondary schools will need to offer essential courses in all the curricular areas for grade 10th from 2024 onwards. However, since grade 11 and 12 of the secondary stage have a wide range of disciplines, many schools might struggle to offer this entire range. To ensure that students have a reasonable choice, secondary schools, to begin with, are advised to offer at least one curricular area from each of the following categories. This means from 2024 onwards secondary schools will have to offer more subjects and curriculum options to students.
