NEW DELHI: The grading system for class X examination will come into effect right away and will be in place for the 2010 CBSE board exams. A formal announcement of this just a few days away as the proposal for the option found general approval at the high-powered Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meeting here on Monday.
Another of HRD minister Kapil Sibal's idea of having a core curriculum in science and mathematics at secondary and higher secondary levels across all education boards also received full support. But the timeline for doing it has not been worked out.
The class X option of a grading system instead of the board exams would be available only for students who will continue in the same school in class XI. Instead of board examination, stress will be placed on comprehensive and continuous evaluation system so that education standards do not suffer.
CABE fully endorsed the need for reforms at all levels of education and, barring Uttar Pradesh that said some barrier was needed at the class X level to ensure quality, the other states welcomed the move on the ground that there is a need to reduce examination stress but did not quite commit as to when will they follow suit in state examination boards.
Calling it a "historic" meeting of the CABE in which state after state lauded the Centre for legislating the Right to Education law, Sibal said there was general support on 14 issues including all the big legislations being planned by the ministry. He also announced that in order to depoliticise appointment of vice-chancellors in central universities a collegium of eminent educationists and Nobel laureates would be set up to suggest names.
As for consensus, it must be pointed out that despite repeated request by Sibal to state ministers to speak on reforms being proposed by the Centre, ministers mostly raised trivial bilateral issues. Only ministers from West Bengal, Orissa, Kerala and Meghalaya spoke on the reforms being proposed by the Centre.
Therefore, when Sibal read out issues on which there was consensus, the ministers said nothing. An objection by the West Bengal minister about accreditation of colleges has been noted in the CABE resolution. Educationist Vinod Raina's intervention that a CABE committee be formed to look into the policy for IT in schools was included in the resolution.
CABE approved ministry's proposal for an autonomous overarching authority for higher education and research. A task force constituted to follow up on the proposed National Commission for Higher Education and Research would consult states. The advisory panel also endorsed the need for a law to prevent, prohibit and punish malpractices in higher education. The proposal for brain gain policy was also approved and so was the policy on educational tribunals.
CABE endorsed the proposal to establish a Central Madarsa Board but felt there should be a greater representation of academics, especially women, and should ensure that non-theological education would be overseen by the Board.
source:TOI