According to the report, the CBSE suggested a transition from studying two languages to three in Class 10, which will include mandating at least two of these languages must be native to India.

Apart from this, in the passing criteria for Class 10 students, the CBSE proposed increasing the requirement from passing in five subjects to 10.

For Class 12 too, the CBSE suggested inclusion of students studying two languages instead of one, with the prerequisite that at least one must be a native Indian language. The students will need to pass examinations in six subjects rather than five.

The report added that the CBSE’s proposed changes are integral to its larger effort to introduce a national credit framework in school education.

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Its framework aims to create academic parity between vocational and general education as outlined in the National Education Policy 2020.

However, there is no organised credit system in the traditional school curriculum. According to the CBSE proposal, a full academic year would consist of 1,200 notional learning hours or 40 credits.

National learning

In the proposal, the CBSE coined the term ‘National Learning’, which refers to the estimated amount of time needed for a typical learner to meet particular learning objectives.

For a student to pass, he or she needs to complete a total of 1,200 study hours in a year, with each topic being allotted a set number of hours. The hours cover both academic teaching taken in-house and extracurricular, experiential, or non-academic learning.

The Academic Bank of Credits will digitally record the credits that students have earned, and can be accessed through a connected Digilocker account. The credits would be ‘independent’ of the grades that students receive, according to an official CBSE document.

To implement this initiative, the CBSE suggested adding more subjects to the secondary and upper school curricula, which will also have vocational and transdisciplinary courses in addition to the current subject list.

The students would have to pass 10 subjects – seven main topics and three languages – instead of the existing five subjects – two languages and three key subjects including math, science, and social studies.

Adding on, out of the three languages needed, two should be native to India. As per the outlet, mathematics and computational thinking, social science, science, art education, physical education and well-being, vocational education, and environmental education are the seven key subjects that are recommended for Class 10.

Students in Classes 10 and 12 would be required to study six subjects, rather than the existing five subjects. One of the two languages must be the Indian native language.

Earlier towards the end of last year, the CBSE sent a proposal outlining changes to the academic structure of Classes 9, 10, 11, and 12 to all heads of its affiliated institutions. They were asked to review the proposal and provide feedback by December 5, 2023.

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Published: 01 Feb 2024, 01:55 PM IST