Image Courtesy - CBSE/ X

Tejas Navale

Pune: In a strategic move towards the shift to competency-based learning in accordance with the aim of national education policy, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to implement multiple changes in its exam pattern from the current academic year 2024–25.

In the notification it issued on Thursday, April 4, on its website, the CBSE has decided to focus more on competency-based questions for students in grades 11 and 12 that assess the capability of children to apply theoretical knowledge in real-life situations.

As per the notification, while the percentage of competency-focused questions in the form of MCQs, case-based questions, source-based integrated questions, or any other type has increased from 40 to 50 percent, the percentage of constructed response questions, including short and long answers, has been reduced from 40 to 30 percent.

The main emphasis of the board behind these changes is said to be to create an educational ecosystem that would move away from rote memorization techniques adopted by students for exams and towards learning that is focused on developing the creative, critical, and systems thinking capacities of students to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

While speaking on it, Joseph Emanuel, Director (Academics) of CBSE, said that with the adoption of recent changes, the board is continuing to align the assessments and evaluation practices with NEP-2020 for the academic session 2024-2025.

Meanwhile, it is important to note that these changes will be applicable to only students in classes 11 and 12, and no changes in the exam format for classes 9 and 10 have been made by the board.