Board exams are back for CBSE Class X students

HYDERABAD: Students appearing for the CBSE Class 10 examinations in 2017-18 will now not only have to write their board exams but also study the entire syllabus. This, courtesy the remodelled assessment structure issued by the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) on January 31. The new format makes it mandatory for students to score a minimum 33%, in both theory and internal assessment, to pass.

Telangana has 122 CBSE-affiliated schools, of which nearly 80% are based out of Hyderabad. Nearly 10,000 students from the city appear for their Class 10 exams every year.

While admitting that the remodelled structure will bring in an increased sense of seriousness among students, principals feel that it is also likely to build pressure on them.

"Studying the entire



syllabus is tough and will put students under a lot of additional pressure. Even in courses like engineering, only six months' syllabus is considered for assessment," said M Varalakshmi, principal, Jubilee Hills Public School. The institution is planning to write to the CBSE chairman recommending that students be assessed on six month syllabus instead.

While in the current format, the board exam and internal assessment weightage is divided in a 60:40 ratio, the new structure will change this to 80:20. Students will be tested for the entire syllabus in the theory papers. Apart from that, schools have to conduct three periodic written tests for each subject, instead of the four formative assessments, and the average of the best two tests will be considered for the final marks submission.