CBSE likely to announce 2021 schedule for class 10 and 12 board exams soon; students should know these 5 tips

As we are ready to step into 2021, all eyes are set on CBSE`s decision as to whether it will postpone Class 10 and 12 board exams of 2021.

As all eyes are set on the decision of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) as to whether it will postpone Class 10 and 12 board exams of 2021, board secretary Anurag Tripathi recently made a major announcement. The comments by Tripathi last week come amid demands from various quarters for cancellation or postponement of board exams in view of rising COVID-19 cases.

The CBSE exams for class 10 and 12 will happen for sure and a schedule is likely to be announced soon, Tripathi had said on Friday. "The board exams will happen for sure and a schedule will be announced very soon. The CBSE is making plans and will soon reveal how it will do test assessments," he had said during a webinar on "New Education Policy (NEP): Brighter future of school education" organised by ASSOCHAM.

He, however, did not comment upon whether the exams will be conducted in the same format and will be held in February-March as per schedule or will be postponed.

Tripathi had said that datesheet for 2021 CBSE Class 10, 12 would be released soon. It is to be noted that exam schedule would be available on the official site of CBSE on cbse.nic.in. 

Schools across the country were closed in March in order to contain the spread of novel coronavirus and opened partially in some states from October 15. However, few states decided to keep them closed or closed again in view of a spike in COVID-19 cases. The board exams which had to be postponed mid-way were later cancelled and the results were announced on basis of an alternative assessment scheme.

"During March-April we were flummoxed as to how to move forward, but our schools and teachers rose to the occasion and transformed, trained themselves in using new technology for teaching purposes and within few months conducting online classes using different apps became normal," Tripathi said.

There have been demands for postponement of board exams to May in view of the continued closure of schools and teaching-learning activities being completely online. Noting that a common aim of all education policies including the new National Education Policy (NEP) has been to shift students from rote learning to experiential learning, Tripathi said, "the entire NEP 2020's thrust and the main aim is to make a shift to skill and competency-based education".

"We need to move students away from knowledge-based education to competency and skill-based learning. To implement skill-based, competency-based education there is a need to transform and follow entire pedagogy based teaching-learning process be it classroom teaching, face-to-face teaching or online teaching," he had said.

"The pedagogy based teaching-learning process is more about making students more curious, innovative, creative and providing them experiential learning and this can be achieved only when schools, teachers and principals change the teaching pedagogy," he had said.

Here are five tips for students:

1. Adhere to the Reduced Syllabus: A ray of hope in the these trying times is the reduction in syllabus. However, this will bring results only when students understand and stay glued to the reduced syllabus.

2. Adopting Quick Learning Strategies: No matter how reduced the syllabus is, it still instils fear in the minds of many to go through the entire text. Hence, studying from innovative learning techniques like mnemonics, which help learners memorize quickly through keywords and acronyms, can save a lot of time.

3. Getting acquainted with the Important Topics: The thought of going through the entire chapter again can be worrisome for students. Hence, highlighting key topics can come handy for quick learning and revision at the end. 

4. Practice and an eye towards Commonly Made Errors: Many a times, students are unable to perform to their best even after knowing all the answers. There are many grammatical or content mistakes done by the students. Hence, while preparing for exams, the students must be aware of such common errors. Training the mind to avoid repetition of past mistakes through practice can act as a catalyst in achieving learning goals. The students should also go through Topper`s Answer Sheets to learn how to write perfect answers.

5. Scheduling is the key: Always follow a systematic strategy while studying. Burdening your mind with lots of thoughts and formulae may lead you to lose your focus. Make a daily achievable target and avoid overdoing things.