Private school body urges CBSE to reduce weightage of Term 1 exam, alleging malpractice

A few private schools have urged the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to reduce the weightage of the Term I examination for the 2021-2022 session, alleging that many schools had adopted “unfair means and malpractices” while marking students during the Term 1 exams.

In a letter to CBSE chairperson Vineet Joshi, National Progressive Schools’ Conference (NPSC) suggested that the weightage of the Term I examination should be reduced in the range of 20% to 30% while the weightage of the Term II exam should be increased in the range of 70% to 80%.

The letter comes days after CBSE shared the Term-1 results of classes X and XII.

“It was observed that during the Term I examinations, which were conducted at the home centres, many schools adopted unfair means and malpractices. Consequently, many students of these schools scored full marks in most of the subjects. We are sure that CBSE must also have received a similar feedback on this issue,” the letter read.

The NPSC, which is an association of senior secondary schools across the country and has 195 private schools under its umbrella, argued that the performance of students of the schools where the “exams were conducted with complete honesty and integrity has not been at par with the aforementioned” which has adversely affected the morale of all the stakeholders.

The weightage of Term-I and Term-II exams will be decided at the time of declaration of the Term-II result and, accordingly, the final performance will be calculated, the board had said.

Last year, the CBSE had announced that the board examinations for 2022 will be conducted in two terms. The Term-1 exams for major subjects were held between November 30 and December 11, 2021.

The board has already released the date-sheet for the Term-2 exams. The exams will commence from April 26.