In a major relief to students of class 10 who will write their board exams in March, the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) has decided to relax the mandatory criteria of separate pass mark for them.
In a circular issued to all CBSE-affiliated schools across the country, the board has decided to implement overall 33% pass mark criteria for this batch of students only — they don’t need to secure 33% separately in board exams and internal assessments.
The circular says: “The examination committee of the board in its meeting held on February 16 after considering the circumstances and the facts that the current batch of class X: 2018 is coming from a different assessment background while they were in class IX (in 2017) resolved to approve the following for this batch of class-X appearing in 2018 examinations as a one-time measure.”
The class 10 exams will be mandatory from this year after a gap of seven years. In 2009, the human resource development (HRD) ministry had said the class 10 exams will be made optional, which started in 2010-11.
According to the new relaxation, in order to pass, a student has to secure a total of 33% (internal assessment and theory marks combined). Earlier, the board had put in place a mandatory clause of securing 33% in the board exams and another 33% in internal assessment.
“The current batch, which is taking class 10 examination in 2018 with five main subjects (having 20 marks as internal assessment component as per scheme of studies), may be exempted from the mandatory separate pass criteria in the subjects having component of 20 marks internal assessment and board examination of 80 marks. They need to secure 33% (both taken together) in the subject to be able to pass that subject,” says the circular.
This norm is also applicable for additional subjects, which comprise internal assessment and theory exam.
However, as internal assessment for vocational subjects carries 50 marks, the rule of separate pass criteria will not be applicable here. In such a case, students will have to obtain 33% marks both in internal as well as in board exams to pass.
The Class 10 and 12 CBSE board exams will begin from March 5, ending April 4 and April 12, respectively. A total of 28.24 lakh students have registered for the exams -- 16.38 lakh for class 10 and 11.86 lakh for class 12.
The board has, for the first time, also allowed special concessions and facilities for students with special needs. For instance, students with disabilities can use a computer to write the examination as per their needs and skills. However, such students will have to make arrangements for their own laptops or computers.
A relaxation in mandatory attendance has also been made for students with special needs and they have been given the provision to have a reader to read out the questions in case they do not want the facility of scribe.