Rationalised syllabus, 2 term-end exams: CBSE's new scheme for boards 2021-22
CBSE releases special assessment scheme for Class 10 and Class 12 board exams for the session 2021-22.
CBSE on Monday released special assessment scheme for Class 10 and Class 12 board exams for the session 2021-22. The new scheme has been released to meet the challenges faced by the board in 2020-21 due to the covid-19 situation in the country. In a notice to all affiliated schools, CBSE said that the scheme has been released in view of the pandemic situation in the country. The board had to cancel both class 10 and class 12 exams of 2021 due to the pandemic.

The board has introduced the following scheme for the assessment of learning outcome for Class 10 and class 12 for academic session 2021-22.
Special scheme for 2021-22
For the Year 2021-22, the academic session will be divided into two terms with approximately 50% syllabus in each term. The syllabus will be bifurcated by subject experts and examination will be conducted at the end of term on the basis of the bifurcated syllabus.
The syllabus for the conduct of Class 10 and class 12 board exams will also be rationalised. The rationalisation will be similar to last academic session and will be notified in July.
Also, efforts will be made to make e Internal Assessment/ Practical/ Project work more credible and valid as per the guidelines and Moderation Policy to be announced by the Board to ensure fair distribution of marks.
For Class 9 and Class 10 students, internal assessments will continue throughout the year irrespective of term-end exams. Also, Classes 11-12, internal assessment (throughout the year-irrespective of Term I and II) would include end of topic or unit tests/ exploratory activities/practicals/ projects.
Schools will create and retain profile of students for all assessment undertaken over the year. Schools will upload marks of Internal Assessment on CBSE IT platform. Guidelines for internal assessment will be provided by CBSE.
The board will conduct the Term I examination in the month of November-December 2021. The questions paper will comprise Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) including case-based MCQs and MCQs on the assertion-reasoning type. The duration of the test will be 90 minutes. The Term-II or the year-end examination will be held around March-April 2022 at the examination center fixed by the board. The paper will be of two hours duration and have questions of different formats.
In case the situation is not conducive for the normal descriptive examination a 90-minute MCQ-based examination will be conducted at the end of term two also. The marks scored by the candidate in the Term-II examination would contribute to the final overall score.
As per the official notification of the board, "In case the situation of the pandemic forces complete closure of schools during November-December 2021, but Term II exams are held at schools or centers. The term I MCQ-based examination would be done by students online/offline from home - in this case, the weightage of this exam for the final score would be reduced, and the weightage of Term II exams will be increased for declaration of the final result’.
It further added that ‘In case the situation of the pandemic forces complete closure of schools during March-April 2022, but Term I exams are held at schools or centers. Results would be based on the performance of students on Term I MCQ-based examination and internal assessments. The weightage of marks of Term I examination conducted by the Board will be increased to provide year-end results of candidates’.
The board further said that In case the situation of the pandemic forces complete closure of schools and Board conducted Term I and II exams are taken by the candidates from home in the session 2021-22. The result would be based on Internal Assessment/Practical/Project work and Theory marks of Term-I and Term-II exams.