We are trying CUET, JEE and NEET exam papers are prepared as per reduced Syllabus: CBSE Secretary

CBSE result 2023 will be out by May end. This year it was a 100 percent normal situation, the examination was conducted on time, evaluations are happening on time and the result will also be announced on time.

Anurag Tripathi, Secretary Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in conversation with Shiksha.com shares various curriculum and pedagogical changes being implemented by the Board. He also talks about experience of CBSE Class 10, and 12 Bords exams conducted in the post-pandemic era and when Class 10 and Class 12 Board results will be out. Tripathi also shared how CBSE and NTA are working to bring CUET, JEE and NEET syllabi in sync with the reduced curriculum. Read the detailed conversation below...

Q. How is the experience of conducting Board exams after three years of the pandemic? How smooth was it?
A. After three years of COVID this was a normal year for us for conducting board exams, as the examination was conducted on time, the evaluation is happening as per schedule and the results will also be out on time.

There are 29,000 CBSE schools across the country in which around two crore children are studying and every year around 40 lakh students give Class 10 and Class 12 Board exams. For these 40 lakh students 7500 examination centres and 4000 evaluation centres are created. This year more than seven lakh evaluators have been roped in for 76 115 question papers of classes 10 and 12 and there were 4000 plus question paper sets.

Q. By when students should expect CBSE Class 12, and Class 10 results to be out?
A. CBSE result 2023 will be out by the end of May. This year it was a 100 percent normal situation, the examination was conducted on time, evaluations are happening on time and the result will also announced on time.

We will be out with the CBSE Board Results by May end. We will try if we can come up with the results before May end as well. Before COVID, CBSE set a target to begin the CBSE Board exam by mid-February, end the Board exams by mid-April and publish CBSE Board Results by May end, which will be met this year. Evaluation is a lengthy process as there are 40 lakh students and there are over two crore copies, and this takes time.

Once the evaluation is done, it takes 15-20 days to process the results and the last process is to upload the results on the website. We are hopeful that we will be able to publish the results by May end as the timetable is settled now and the same timetable will continue.

Q. During COVID it was seen that the average passing percentage went high. Should we expect the trend to continue?
A. The overall passing percentage remains around 90, which is likely to remain the same this year.

Q. Last year CBSE conducted Term-I and Term-II exams, what was the difference this year, and will it impact results?
A. Term-I and Term-II were implemented as there was COVID-19 pandemic situation then, as the entire process of examination takes six months, which includes the preparation of question paper to publishing results, it's a long process. We have to take exams for 40 lakh students across the country in every district. So it is a challenge for us to conduct one exam in an organised manner and the two-term exam was conducted during the COVID pandemic as there was this general consensus that at least one mid-term exam should be conducted so that in future if there is a lockdown because of COVID, there would be some assessment of children. During COVID to come out with Board results we had to analyze the results of Class 9 and Class 11, so to avoid that situation two term exam was brought.

But, right now we have no plans to do the two-term exam as we have our own limitations.
Q. How is CBSE implementing various provisions of NEP 2020 in its affiliated schools?
A. The NEP 2020 came three years ago and the Government of India, the Ministry of Education and the CBSE are fully geared up for its implementation. In our schools, NEP 2020 has been implemented. The important provisions recommended by the NEP, which include changes related to curriculum reform, pedagogical changes and assessment reforms are also being implemented across CBSE-affiliated schools.

Q. Is CBSE transforming the Board exam and its question paper into a more competency-based paper? How is the transformation happening?
A. We aimed to transform the question from 2020-21 and completely transform it by 2026 into a competency-based and skill-based paper. We started with a 10-20% reform every year and till now we have been able to transform the question papers by almost 40-50%.

Q. The NEP also recommends doing away with Board exams at the Class 10 level. Will CBSE be implementing it?
A. Board examination will continue to take place at the Class 10 level. The NEP recommends doing away with it but the NCF doesn’t, so we will continue to have board exams at class 10 level.

Q. How is CBSE implementing NCF in its affiliated schools?
A. We have released the NCF curriculum for all our schools, we have asked all our schools to start with Nursery, KG and Upper KG, which is known as Balvatika-I, II, III immediately, and students are to be admitted at the age of three, children are to be admitted in Balvatika I at the age of 3, Balvatika II at the age of 4 and Balvatika III at 5, children of age six will enter class 1.

Q. CBSE has reduced syllabus in various subjects and students are feeling that they would be at a disadvantage in exams like CUET, NEET, and JEE. How do you see this?
A. We have reduced the syllabus and curriculum as per the recommendations of the NEP 2020. We are trying that the examination papers for CUET, JEE and NEET are prepared as per our reduced syllabus, CUET has agreed to it and last year it was completely in accordance with the 10 2 syllabus. We have to understand that paper will be tough be it JEE or NEET because they have to shortlist candidates.
As far as the reduction in syllabus is concerned we have only removed or reduced those parts which were in repetition, or less important and this has been done to reduce the burden of senior secondary and secondary. If we go on increasing syllabus as per the IITs, JEE or NEET then this will keep increasing, which we do not want to do.

We have had a discussion on bringing the syllabus of JEE and NEET as per the CBSE, and NCERT syllabus and they have agreed to bring it in sync.

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