CBSE Initiates Open Book Exams for Classes 9 and 11, Excludes 10 and 12

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will pilot the open book examination (OBE) exclusively for Classes 9 and 11 in the upcoming academic year. Despite the board's governing body initially approving the OBE plan for all secondary classes (Classes 9 to 12) in December, the decision has been revised to exclude Classes 10 and 12 for the 2024-25 academic year.

Furthermore, the pilot will be limited to a select number of schools this year, with plans for broader implementation in the next academic year, according to CBSE Secretary Himanshu Gupta in a statement to a news website.

"It has now been decided that the OBE will be piloted for Classes 9 and 11. There will be no OBE in Classes 10 and 12. For this year, the pilot will be conducted in a few schools. In the 2025-26 academic year, it will be a larger pilot,” Gupta explained.

Originally, the CBSE intended to conduct a pilot study on open book examinations across six subjects for all four classes. The governing body ratified the curriculum committee's recommendation to introduce open book tests for secondary stages (Classes 9-12) in a few subjects.

The document from the committee specified: “The tests may be piloted in schools to examine various aspects for this assessment namely, the time taken by students to complete it, its suitability for formative/summative purposes, and the stakeholders' perceptions regarding this.”

The pilot program initially targeted six subjects: English, Science, and Mathematics for Classes 9 and 10, and English, Mathematics, and Biology for Classes 11 and 12. However, the scope has now been narrowed.

The recommendations for conducting open book tests for higher secondary classes were part of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023.

CBSE's open book exam plan aims to foster competency-based assessment. Gupta elaborated, “Year on year we have been increasing the weightage of such questions because it is the need of the hour and to make a shift from rote learning to critical thinking. Ultimately, the aim is to make competency-based questions constitute almost 50% of the Class 10 and Class 12 exams.”

In open book exams, students are permitted to answer questions using textbooks and approved materials. Institutions like Delhi University (DU) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) also conduct OBE assessments for semester exams.

Regarding the two board examinations announced by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the CBSE is known to be working closely with the ministry.