Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), the school-leaving board examination, will become easier from 2012.
Students won’t have to pass their second language (vernacular) paper to be able to move on to the next level; they will have to take a 20-mark oral examination that will
test students’ listening and speaking skills; and, from 2013, won’t have to sit for a separate environmental science test.
These decisions were taken in the last week of November at a board meeting of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE). The council conducts both ICSE and Indian School Certificate or ISC (the Class 12 board examination) throughout the country.
According to current norms, an ICSE student has to pass in English and four other subjects, one of which has to be the second language.
If a student fails in the second language but clears English and three other subjects, he/she is allowed to move on to class XI, but has to clear a compartmental exam for the second language to be eligible for the ISC examination.
Under the new regulations, it will no longer be mandatory for a student to pass the second language to appear for ISC. But passing in four subjects other than English will remain mandatory.
Then, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), which manages both ICSE and ISC, has decided to do away with a separate examination for environment education and merge it with other subjects.
“According to a Supreme Court verdict, students have to learn environmental lessons. But nowhere does it make it mandatory to hold an examination in the subject. We have decided to integrate various topics related to environment education with subjects like geography, biology and other subjects,” said Gerry Arathoon, the officiating chief executive and secretary of CISCE.
The authorities have also decided to introduce a 20-mark oral examination in English. Effective from 2012, they will be tested on their listening and speaking skills. Individual schools will conduct this test.