Class 10 Board exams to be revived from 2018, says CBSE chairman

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning a big systemic change in the months to come.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning a big systemic change in the months to come.

There is a growing opinion in favour of bringing back the Class 10 board examinations. (PTI file)

CBSE chairman Rajesh Chaturvedi, who was in Patna on Wednesday, said Class 10 board examinations would be revived from 2018 as there is a growing opinion in its favour. In August, the decision to resurrect the Class 10 boards was mulled over during a meeting between HRD minister Smriti Irani and the Central Advisory Board of Education.

“We will not be able to do it in 2017 as time is short but we will certainly like to go ahead with it from 2018 as it has become important in the context of improving quality. In any case, the state boards are continuing with the board exams,” he said.

Chaturvedi said the matter of re-introducing the examination would be discussed at the next education ministers’ conference and with the ICSE and state boards under the direction of the ministry of human resource development (MHRD).

“Students need to be made to write descriptive answers and not just rely on multiple choice questions,” he added.

Chaturvedi said there was also a growing need for a uniform mechanism for teachers’ recruitment to check arbitrariness. “At present, appointments are made as per suitability and convenience. We are working on it, but the need for a uniform mechanism is felt now,” he said.

On growing commercialisation of school education, he said it was important for states to work on improving the quality of government schools.