Students who will write the ISC examinations in 2021 will be tested on 20-marks project work in English language, English literature and mathematics, the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) announced on Saturday.

The council had earlier said that the students who would write the school-leaving exams in 2022 would be the first batch to be tested on the 20-marks project work in these three subjects.

Schools are now teaching through online classes because of the lockdown.

The CISCE has taken the decision to bring forward the introduction of the project work in the three papers to reduce the burden of home confinement on the students who will write the test next year, council secretary and chief executive Gerry Arathoon told The Telegraph.

“Schools are closed. Students are learning through online classes from home. The project work will help them utilise their time at home. Since we had already taken the decision for the 2020 ISC batch, we thought why not implement it from this year,” said Arathoon.

According to a CISCE official: “ISC English is tough. Not all students are able to grasp the subject equally well through online classes. These students will benefit more from the project work.”

Students who are “weak in math, too, will gain from the project work', the principal of an ISC school said.

The ISC English language and English literature papers are of 100 marks each.

In math, ISC students are tested in one 100-marks theoretical paper.

English is taught as a first language in every ISC school. The two project work papers, of 20 marks each, will be compulsory for all students.

The students are tested on the entire syllabus of English language and literature taught in Classes XI and XII.

With the introduction of the project work, the theory paper in maths (Paper I) will have 80 marks.

The 20-marks Paper II will require students to complete two projects of 10 marks each.

In the Class XII project paper in English language, 10 marks will be reserved for writing skills. The other 10 marks will be allotted to listening and speaking skills.

In the English literature project paper, too, writing skills will be of 10 marks.

Of the remaining 10 marks, four will be allotted to presentation of a piece and six to understanding and appli-cation of knowledge and analysis.