After announcing to give students the opportunity to choose whether they want to attend ICSE or 10th grade exams, the Indian School Certification Examination Council (CISCE) has decided to cancel the 10th grade exams altogether. This is in line with the decision taken by the CBSE. “The (provided) options in previous circulars have now been revoked. The safety and well-being of our students and the ability to teach are paramount and very important,” the council said in an official announcement.
Earlier the board had decided to allow students to choose their own assessment method. Those who would choose to appear in the written test will be tested based on it. Those who chose to opt out of the written test would be tested “according to the criteria”, according to the previous directive. Now, all students will be assessed based on “objective measure”.
Even though CISCE has not yet met the criteria for student assessment, it has asked schools to start teaching the 11th class syllabus to these students “in the beginning”. Considering the state of COVID-19, class 11 will begin in online mode. Schools have been asked to begin the process of admitting the 11th class, if not already. CISCE has instructed schools to prepare a schedule and start online classes for 11th grade students “in the beginning”.
CISCE, however, is yet to announce the condition of announcing the results of 10th graders. “The fair and impartial process and timing of the announcement of results will be announced to CISCE in due course,” the Council said in an official announcement.
Last year CISCE also announced results based on a “special process” that included three parameters – the average marks for the top three student topics in the board test, the academic project and work done, and the marks obtained for the project and the activity indicated as a percentage. As of this year, no theoretical tests are possible, the process is expected to change the 2021 collection.
The move adopted by CISCE will have an impact on almost two candidates. Every year, about 2 lakh students from the 10th class exams. By 2020, a total of 2,07,902 students appeared in the ICSE exams. Of these 2.06 lakhs have already passed the test. In 2020 again, 10th grade tests were affected by COVID-19.
As for the 12th board exams under CISCE, no deadline has been announced yet. Postponed and updated test writing dates will be announced after checking the status of COVID-19, as per the initial order.
Earlier, the CBSE had announced that it would cancel the Grade 10 Board exams. Both boards were matched for their different take on the 10-board tests. Earlier, the Minister of Education and Prime Minister Modi held a meeting where a decision was taken to suspend the Grade 10 board exams and postpone the Grade 12 exams next time. This was followed by a majority of the state board also decided to cancel the 10th board exams.
