CBSE announces marking policy for cancelled class 10 board exams

CBSE asks schools to form 8-member committee for tabulating results for cancelled class 10 board exams

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Saturday announced a policy for tabulation of marks for class 10 board exams which have been cancelled in view of the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country.

According to the policy, while 20 marks for each subject will be for internal assessment as every year, 80 marks will be calculated on basis of the students' performance in various tests or exams throughout the year.

"The students will be assessed out of maximum 100 marks for each subject. As per the policy of the board, 20 marks are for internal assessment and 80 marks are for year-end board examinations.

"The weightage in terms of maximum marks for schools which have conducted the tests and exams through the year will be -- periodic test/unit test (10 marks), Haly year exam (30 marks) and pre-board exams (40 marks)," CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said.

The board has asked schools to form a result committee consisting of principal and seven teachers for finalizing the results. Five teachers from the school should be from Mathematics, Social Science, Science and two languages, and two teachers from neighbouring schools should be co-opted by the school as the external members of the committee.

"In the pandemic situation, delivering fair and unbiased results to students on time is a challenging task. But the board is confident that every school leader and every teacher of CBSE affiliated schools will complete this process with the highest degree of professionalism, consistency, and care to ensure accurate and fair results. Schools will also have to ensure that the marks awarded by them should be in consonance with past performance of the school in class 10 board exams," he said.

"Schools are expected to provide a fair and objective assessment of the student and have been given the autonomy and flexibility to do so. However, to take care of the variations in school level evaluation processes, there is a need to standardize the scores across schools through a process of moderation of marks," he added.

The CBSE has also warned schools against indulging in unfair and biased practices for assessment or they will have to face penalty or disaffiliation.

The board said that the result will be announced by June 20.

"The schools will form eight-member result committees by May 5. The provision for school-wise distribution of marks as well as finalisation of rationale document will happen by May 10. For candidates who have not appeared in enough tests through the year, the schools will conduct online or telephonic assessment for them by May 15 and will have to finalise the result by May 25," Bhardwaj said.

The controller said that the marks will have to be submitted to the CBSE by June 11 and the result will be declared by June 20.

The CBSE had on April 14 cancelled class 10 exams and postponed class 12 exams in view of surge in COVID-19 cases.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The board exams are usually conducted in February-March. However, the board had decided to conduct them in May-June this year due to the pandemic situation.

Schools across the country were closed in March last year to contain the spread of COVID-19 ahead of a nationwide lockdown.

Several states started reopening the schools partially from October last year, but physical classes are again being suspended because of the rise in coronavirus cases.

Last year, the board exams had to be postponed mid-way in March. They were later cancelled and the results were announced based on an alternative assessment scheme.