With the upcoming academic session 2023, the CBSE is returning to the annual board exams. To bring the academic cycle back on track, the board has announced that it will conduct its annual exams in February while the 2022 board exams when on till May. On top of this, the CBSE has announced to revise its syllabus which means, the 30 per cent syllabus cut which was offered as relaxation for the past two years will be rolled back. This has raised concerns among schools regarding whether or not the given time is sufficient to prepare students for boards. More so because the current batches are also dealing with learning losses due to two years of school-shut down.
“Delay in Board exams this year has left students of class 11 with less time to cover their syllabus and to build a strong foundation for class 12. That is one area that will need serious planning and extra classes,” said Dr Anshu Arora, Principal of Amity International School at Sector 43, Gurugram.
“Schools will have to plan syllabus completion by December 2022. In case Boards are conducted in Feb/ March, then class 12 practicals would be completed in December – January so that students can focus on theory thereafter,” said the principal adding, “CBSE has to pitch in for supporting the schools by giving clear guidelines on exam dates…The earlier we get directions, the better it would be.”
‘Impact on Preparation Strategy’
Going back to the 100 per cent syllabus structure, after nearly two years of a reduced syllabus, might impact the preparation strategies of students to some extent, said Alka Kapur, Principal, Modern Public School, Shalimar Bagh.
The sudden change might impact the current mindset of the students and enhance pressure on them because of the changed schedule. Students now have to re-strategize their study structure to get ready for the annual exams,” said Kapur.
Need to Make up for Loss of Learning
With the new academic session, course completion is not the only concern. Schools will also have to make efforts to fill up for the learning losses and lack of writing practice.
“To cope with such changes, students need to improve their writing speed to conclude the exam within the stipulated time duration. A major concern is that the students are no more habitual of sitting for 3 hours exam,” said Kapur.
“To ensure that our students are well prepared even when the timelines have been revised for the board exams, we have taken several steps including specific time-marked daily for remedial interventions after regular teaching time. This helps cater to individual students’ academic needs and our teachers are able to bridge any learning gaps that may have arisen due to the pandemic. 2023 is the year we focus on increasing competencies,” Meenambika, Principal for VG Bulandshahr.
Amity’s principal said that the school aims at identifying weak students in the first term itself and starts remedial and revision classes every week in zero period. “Regular PTMs and counseling sessions with parents of students who have not performed well in the first to suggest ways on how they can support their ward to optimize their performance and monitor a revision schedule from August itself.”
The school will also take support of the online classes. “Blended learning and special online classes for weak and bright students will be needed. Resources can be shared with students in online mode for self-study. In case of another pandemic wave and closure of schools, teachers and students have become well equipped to continue with online classes and hybrid mode.”
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