The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced changes to the exam pattern for the 2024 board exam and also for classes IX and XI. The main change is an increase in the number of competency-based questions for all classes, while the weightage for short and long answer-type questions has been reduced.
Competency-based questions may take the form of multiple-choice questions, case-based questions, or source-based integrated questions. In line with the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, CBSE is shifting the focus from rote learning to a more competency-based approach that emphasises the development of critical and creative thinking skills.
Issuing a circular, CBSE said, “The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 has affirmed the need to move from rote learning to learning more focused on developing the creative and critical thinking capacities of students to meet the challenges of the 21st century proactively. Accordingly, the board has taken multiple steps towards implementation of competency-focused education in schools, ranging from aligning assessment to competencies, development of exemplar resources for teachers and students as well as continuous capacity building of teachers
As per the changes in classes IX and XI, the competency-based questions will now have 50% weightage compared with the earlier 40%. For these classes, there is 20% MCQ as well and 30% long/short answer type questions.
While for classes X and XII, who will appear for the board exam in 2024, the competency-based questions will hold 40% weightage, as against the 30% earlier.
The objective-type questions will be MCQs with a weightage of 20% and for short- answer and long-answer-type questions, the weightage will be 40% as compared to 50% last year.
The competency-based questions will ensure more depth and vastness to understanding the topic, as the case-based questions will test the conceptual understanding.
