GUWAHATI: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on April 4th, announced a significant change in the examination format for Classes 11 and 12, effective from the academic year 2024-25, as per media reports.
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Under the new format, there will be a shift towards concept application questions, moving away from long-form answers. Notably, the proportion of competency-focused questions, including multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and case-based questions, has been raised from 40 to 50 percent. In contrast, the percentage of constructed response questions has been reduced from 40 to 30 percent.
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Joseph Emanuel, the Director (Academics) at CBSE, stated that these changes are in alignment with the National Education Policy of 2020. The objective behind the overhaul is to transition towards Competency-Based Education, with more emphasis on fostering creativity, critical thinking, and system-based learning. Emanuel emphasised that the board's focus is to equip students with the skills necessary to tackle the challenges of the 21st century, steering away from rote memorisation.
"The board in accordance with National Education Policy, 2020 has taken multiple steps towards implementation of Competency-Based Education in schools, ranging from aligning assessment to competencies, development of exemplar resources for teachers and students as well as continuous capacity building of the teachers etc," he said.
"Consequently, in the forthcoming session, the percentage of Competency Based Questions that assess the application of concepts in real-life situations included in the question papers of the board has been altered," Emanuel added.
However, there will be no changes in the exam format for Classes 9 and 10.
