In line with the recommendations of the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is gearing up to prepare for a shift towards the 5+3+3+4 pedagogical structure. The board will soon disseminate an order asking all CBSE board-affiliated schools in India to make provisions for a migration from the current 10+2 system to the proposed 5+3+3+4 one, reported the Times of India.
According to CBSE chairperson Nidhi Chhibber, the board will make the shift from the upcoming academic session onwards. The board “will be shortly issuing directions for the adoption of the new 5+3+3+4 system of education for all the schools instead of 10+2 as envisaged in NE,” she said, adding that CBSE will initiate the creation of a school registry, teacher registry and student registry in order to track the growth of these resources throughout the multiple stages of schooling.
The CBSE chief said that the inclusion of 3- to 6-year-old children in formal education is a salient feature of the NEP. She further highlighted that several CBSE schools, through pre-nurseries and preparatory schools, are already into younger children’s education. Efforts from the board will bring this under the formal CBSE system framework.
The new pedagogical structure outlined in the NEP 2020 divides children’s education into four stages. The first is the foundational stage lasting for five years. The next two stages, preparatory and middle, will be three years each. The secondary stage will be four years long. The new divisions are claimed to be in accordance with the kind of cognitive development stages that children and adolescents go through.
Under the NEP, while the board exams for grades 10 to 12 will continue, this system of examinations will be changed to remove the need for coaching classes. The NEP states that in order to do away with the ‘high stakes’ aspect of board exams, all students will be allowed to take these examinations on two occasions during a school year. The main examination will be compulsory, while the improvement exam will be optional.
