Courses in design, retail on the anvil

From next year, the CBSE board is planning to introduce courses in design, retail and logistics for Class 11 and 12 students, as part of the human resources development (HRD) ministry’s ongoing focus on vocational education.

Last year, the board had introduced courses in geo-spatial practices and media studies for Class 11 students. These will be examined at the Class 12 board exams for the first time next year.

“We are looking at many alternatives,” said Vineet Joshi, chairperson of the board. “The idea is to give students as many options as possible.”

The HRD ministry has been particularly focused on vocational education and is also in the process of drawing up a vocational education framework.

The board will issue a newly designed report card for the first time this year for Class 10 students. The report cards will contain their grades as well as their extra-curricular and behavioural assessments. This was the first year that the board exams were optional for Class 10 students.

“There will be a lot of information in the new report cards,” said Joshi.

He also confirmed that the board would be sending the data of its Class 10 students in Maharashtra to the state’s education department. “We will give them everything, board exam marks as well as continuous comprehensive evaluation data and they can take whatever they wish,” said Joshi.