Weeks after the cancellation of the Class 12 board exams for students of the 2020-21 academic year, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced its decision to conduct the Class 10 and 12 board exams in two parts from the current 2021-22 academic session.

While the first term questions will be of the objective type, the second term exams will be subjective. Both the exams will carry equal weightage and the final marks will be awarded based on the performance in these two exams, while there will be no overlapping of the syllabus.

For the current academic year, the first term objective exam will happen in November-December 2021, while the second term subjective exam will be held in March-April 2022. "When the situation normalises, the board will conduct the Term I exam in October-November and Term II in February-March and for the full syllabus," an official was quoted as saying.

Speaking about the syllabus for the different terms, the official added, "Students will study only the specific syllabus meant for that particular term-end exam. No part of the first-term syllabus will be part of the second-term exam and vice versa." Even though the new system has been designed with the officials keeping the Covid-19 pandemic in mind, a senior CBSE official reportedly said that the pattern will continue as the board's new assessment system.

Meanwhile, the CBSE is also keeping the option of online exam open in case of a third wave of the pandemic. "Due to the pandemic exams are getting postponed and cancelled. So the online exam is one model which is also being planned," the official said.