CBSE Introduces Open Book Exam Pilot for Class IX to XII in 2024-25

CBSE Introduces Open Book Exam Pilot for Class IX to XII: CBSE is initiating a trial of open-book assessments in select schools for Class IX to XII later this year, according to officials. Scheduled for November-December 2024, the pilot aims to assess higher-order thinking skills. In this approach students can refer to their textbooks during exams, aiming to encourage critical thinking instead of mere memorization.

CBSE Introduces Open Book Exam Pilot for Class IX to XII in 2024-25

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced the introduction of open-book exams for students in Classes IX to XII starting in 2024. As a pilot project, these exams will initially cover six subjects. A pilot test will be conducted in schools in the month of November 2024 to assess the effectiveness of the open book assessment. The board members decided during a governing body meeting held in December of last year.

CBSE Open Book Exam for Six Main Subjects

As a first step, the CBSE open book exams in 2024 will be conducted for six subjects: English, science, and mathematics for Classes IX and X, and English, mathematics, and biology for Classes XI and XII.

The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023 has recommended conducting open book exams for higher secondary classes. The pilot test will be held to assess the time taken by students and determine if this type of assessment is suitable for formative or summative evaluations. Additionally, the perceptions of students, parents, teachers, and other stakeholders regarding the open-book exams will be assessed.

What is the CBSE Open Book Exam 2024?

In an open book exam, students are allowed to answer questions using their textbooks and approved materials. Universities such as Delhi University (DU) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) already conduct open book assessments for semester exams. CBSE will consult with DU regarding the challenges of implementing open book exams, as discussed in the meeting.

The outcomes of the CBSE Open Book Exam 2024 will determine if this method can be adopted for student assessments at the secondary level. According to the meeting, CBSE will complete the design, development, and review of the open book tests for the specified subjects by June this year. The pilot run of the prepared materials will be conducted in schools from November to December 2024.

The Open Book Exam: Reform of the Examination System

The concept of scientific evaluation of studies was first introduced by Henry Fischel, an American businessman and philanthropist in the 19th century. But China was the first to introduce the formal examination system by the name “Imperial Examination’. As far as history goes, the examination process in India was introduced by the Kalinga Dynasty by the name “Karavela’ to select bureaucrats and ministers according to their knowledge and skills.

The introduction of the concept of the modern school was invented by Horace Mann, a pioneer of educational reforms in the US State of Massachusetts and, probably. St George’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School is the first such school in India. It was founded in the year 1715 in Madras (now Chennai) under the Anglo-Indian Board of Education.

The new generation in Independent India after almost 200 years of British Rule has come across different education policies introduced on an experimental basis. We, the natives, were always neglected by the British in the field of education, along with social reforms. They considered us half-baked in knowledge, thinking, conceptualisation, application and other related fields. So, the passing mark in any examination was set at 33 whereas in their country, it was 65. This was not due to a less number of native talents but to suppress the young prodigies and budding experts in the field of scientific research, social reforms, and financial development. Thus, the government has been trying to bring in educational reforms to modify the examination structure in accordance with NCF-2005 and the recent introduction of NEP-2020.

As a mark of significant change in the examination procedure, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to hold the open-book exam for Classes IX to XII initially in some selected model schools in the country. This format of examination is in accordance with the National Curriculum Framework (NCF-2005). The objective of this pattern of examination is to stop the traditional rote memorisation setup among the students to emphasise competency and skill-based learning.

The present conventional form of examination is a closed-book system. Open-book testing has two forms: restricted and free. In the restricted format, a student can consult some NCERT prescribed textbooks or some authorised reference books whereas the free format allows the student to use any relevant and pertinent materials. However, the open-book examination system is not new in India. On an experimental basis, it was started in the year 2014 in the name of Open Text Based Assessment (OTBA) but it was stopped in the year 2017- 2018 because of inappropriate preparation to test the skills and critical thinking ability of students.

It is a common belief that the Open-Book Examination (OBE) is far easier than the closed-book examination system. In the OBE, we can check the critical thinking ability and thorough knowledge of the syllabus. It needs deeper comprehension, extensive knowledge and analytical skills. The OBE will allow the students constructivist learning by using multiple resources to attain a desired level of proficiency. The OBE is a part of NEP-2020 as a transition from rote learning to logical and scientific inquisitiveness.

Critical thinkers are always open-minded and ready to face challenges. According to a recent survey, it is stated that OBE reduces the stress, strain, and mental pressure of the students. The OBE will restrict direct copying from notes and books. On the other hand, the OBE will be a great challenge for educators. The educators have to craft and design different creative, systematic, problem-solving questions and day-to-day life related case-study based questions.

The negative side effect is that it will direct the students to neglect the nес essary surface level learning at home as they would be provided textbooks and reference notes and books as a ready-reckoner. This will increase the dependence on external resources during examination time. If a student does not know the actual facts or formulas or points to a particular question, then direct copying from the textbook may lead to a wrong. Improper and incomplete answer The OBE may become quite difficult sometimes if a student does not have the genuine and unfeigned understanding to interpret facts and the process may encourage cheating in the examination hall.

Change, reformation and experimentation have been a part of our education sector, one of the most important commissions so far formed in India is the Kothar Commission (1964-1966) and. before that, we had the University Education Commission (1948) and the Mudaliar Commission (1952-1953) for reformation of Secondary Education. The Kothari Commission had recommended 23 important features regarding changes in the education system in India. Some important recommendations were free and compulsory education for children in the age group 6 to 14, vocational education, adult education, and many more, along with an evaluation and assessment system. The Open Book Examination System is an experiment and a model assessment process. To make OBE a successful one, the educators as well as teachers, have to become adept at setting questions that are pliable, resilient, unbiased, and competency-based. Hope the OBE system will encourage the stakeholders to be open-minded to use their wide varieties of expandable knowledge.

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