Fighting The Rote

CBSEs decision to change its exam pattern from 2020 shows its willingness to change with time. This step has been welcomed by the school fraternity

- Bhanu Pratap Singh

In order to prepare the students for a demanding future, the Central Board of Secondary Educa-tion (CBSE) is planning to change its exam pattern from 2020. The idea is to make the students future ready by assessing them on their analytical abilities, rather than rote learning. This push to change the exam pattern aims to curb the rote learning, which is the order of the day for a majority of Indian school students.

If everything goes according to plan, then tests for vocational subjects such as information technology, automobile technology, beauty and wellness and many other subjects will take place in February.

The decision to revamp CBSE exam pattern has been hailed as the game-changing move. “In my opinion, it is quite a good move by the CBSE since there has been a paradigm shift in the field of education all around the world. Today, in most countries, more emphasis is given towards developing 21stcentury skills and competencies rather than rote learning,” says Ambrish Singh, Head of Academics, Sela Qui International School, Dehradun.

The old always makes way for the new, and this is exactly what CBSE plans to do. “The present curriculum which we are following at CBSE is based on National Curriculum Framework 2005 and it is quite old. I feel that we should welcome the change in curriculum CBSE is trying to implement. Topics which are not relevant in today’s time should be omitted from the curriculum. So yes, we should welcome the steps taken by the HRD Ministry and CBSE,” says Manoj Bajpai, Principal, Medi-Caps International School, Indore.

The Changes