CBSE: No Open Book Exams for Classes 10th and 12th this Year 2024; Pilot Only in Selected Schools

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is thinking of running a pilot open book examination (OBE) in selected schools for classes 10th and 12th later this year, as per the notification from officials. This idea of launching a pilot test of open-book assessments has floated out from the last governing body meeting of the board, held in December 2023. However, the officials have said there is no proper plan to adopt the format in board classes 10th and 12th. This open-book exam plan is for all secondary classes (9th and 12th) in December.

As per the official notice, “The CBSE is planning a pilot run of open-book assessments in selected schools, targeting subjects English, mathematics, and science for Classes 9 and 10 and English, mathematics, and biology for Classes 11 and 12. The aim is to gauge the time taken by students to complete these tests and gather feedback from stakeholders.”

A senior board official said, “The plan is in line with recommendations made in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF). These tests Would undergo a pilot phase in schools to evaluate various aspects such as completion time, suitability for formative and summative assessment, and stakeholders perceptions,”.

As per the CBSE guidelines, in an open-book exam, the candidate is allowed to bring their notes, textbooks, or other study materials and they are also allowed to refer to them during the exam. Delhi University (DU), and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) are some institutions that conduct this open book exam (OBE) semester-wise.

The CBSE board has said, the pilot will be more focused on estimating the higher-order thinking skills, application, analysis, critical and Creative thinking, and problem-solving abilities.

The document stated, “The tests may be piloted in schools to examine various aspects for this assessment namely, the time taken by students to complete it, its suitability for formative/summative purposes and the stakeholders’ perceptions regarding this.”

Mr. Gupta said, “It has now been decided that the OBE will be piloted for Classes 9 and 11. There will be no OBE in Classes 10 and 12. For this year, the pilot will be conducted in a few schools. In the 2025-26 academic year it will be a larger pilot. The idea is to bring on competency-based assessment.”

He further said, “Year on year we have been increasing the weightage of such questions because it is the need of the hour and to make a shift from rote learning to critical thinking. Ultimately the aim is to make competency-based questions for almost 50% of the Class 10 and Class 12 exams.”