From 2018, CBSE boards to begin a month early

NEW DELHI: Come 2018, Class X and XII Board exams will take place in February instead of March as the Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE) is planning to advance the cycle of exams and related activities from 2018-19 as a part of reforms focused on " error-free evaluation".

Moreover, the process will no more drag over 45 days but will be completed within a month. Currently, board exams begin March 1 and end around April 20.

CBSE chairman R K Chaturvedi said that this would also advance the date of declaration of results, which generally come around the third or fourth week of May. Chaturvedi told TOI, "The exam inations should start around February 15 and we are also planning to complete them within a month."

The early results, the board believes, will also help CBSE students with the undergraduate admission process. "Otherwise it has been a neckand-neck affair," said the chairperson.

The board's plan to advance the examinations is a part of the reforms in the evaluation process, which has come under the scanner due to glaring errors in the practice.

"By April, vacations begin and the experienced teachers are not available. Therefore, advancing evaluation to mid-March will ensure we have the best teachers checking the answer scripts. Otherwise, in April during vacations, schools offer us only temporary, ad-hoc and newly-appointed teachers for the evaluation exercise as experienced teachers don't oblige," said Chaturvedi.

According to the CBSE chairman, this will also offer the board some breathing room to work on results in its bid to make them error-free.
Under the new scheme, the CBSE is expecting the best and experienced teachers to come for evaluation and it is also going to conduct two training sessions for the evaluators.

Each year around 50,000 teachers are engaged in the evaluation process across 2,000 centres. Most of the centres are at Kendriya Vidyalayas.

"Just like teachers' training, we are planning two evaluators' training sessions each year starting December 2017," said Chaturvedi.

On re-evaluation, Chaturvedi said the board decided to scrap the practice since a very small number of students from those who apply for photocopies re-apply. He also cited summer vacations as another reason, claiming that it gets difficult to get expert teachers in that period and also stalls the next process of admissions, compartment examinations, disturbing the annual calendar in the process.

"Moreover, I think there is no point in allowing re-evaluation of 10 questions. Either it should be allowed in totality or not at all. The matter is also in court. But if we can ensure that evaluations themselves are error-free, the question of re-evaluation will not arise," added Chaturvedi.