Well, this has become the most talked-about topic among students of classes 10 and 12 after the declaration of Term 1 results.
Last year, the CBSE with an encouraging circular had announced that the board examinations for 2022 will be conducted in two terms. This decision was taken due to the uncertainty arising out of COVID 19 pandemic lockdowns.
The syllabus was distributed rationally among the two terms with no repetition. The mode and pattern of the exam were changed to online with the introduction of objective-based questions.
Even the format of the question was also altered to case-based competency type questions.
CBSE was successful in conducting the Term-1 exams between November 30 and December 11 last year.
For term 2 the board decided to go offline after talking with the stakeholders and taking the manageable COVID-19 situation into account. The board has already released the date sheet for the Term-2 exams.
The exams will commence on April 26.
While any change takes time to adjust, the dilemma around weightage is also fairly new. Let us try to explain why this situation has arisen.
Term 1 and Term 2 Weightage Criteria Explained
Let's first be clear that the weightage criteria for Term 1 and Term 2 are not defined right now at this moment. In their first circular, the CBSE board hinted that the two terms may have equal weightage.
Now in their latest Circular dated March 11, 2022, the board has stated that the ‘weightage of Term 1 and Term 2 will be decided at the time of the declaration of Term 2 result and accordingly, the final performance will be calculated.’ The circular was released following the declaration of CBSE Term 1 Result 2022.
If we simplify this statement from the circular, CBSE means to say that the board might decide to give 50 per cent weightage to both Term 1 and Term 2, or they will give more weightage to Term 2 marks and lesser weightage to Term 1 marks.
The percentage of the latter remains undefined.
Students should also note that the scores announced in Term 1 results are not the final scores. After Term 2 exams will be completed, CBSE will release the final scores combined with the marks of practicals and internal assessment.
And based on that score, pass, fail or compartment will be determined by the Board. But for those who did not appear in the Term 1 exams, CBSE will assess them only based on their performance in Term 2.
Also, the final marks could be moderated after combining the Term 1 and Term 2 performances of students for the computation of the final results of CBSE 2022. Therefore, students should prepare with all their might for Term 2 exams.
After this push and pull of changes and uncertainty looming over the weightage of respective terms. Students are demanding changes to the weightage after having a first-hand experience of the new mode of examination.
The demand for 30 70 distribution of weightage
Anguished over Term 1 marks, students and even teachers are demanding that the first term exams should have only 30% weightage as opposed to 70% for Term 2 exams.
Many students have claimed that they witnessed wide-scale cheating during Term 1 exams and said that this was unfair to those who honestly studied.
Taking to the micro-blogging site Twitter, some of these students and teachers demanded that 50 per cent weightage should be struck off the agenda.
And a 10 to 30 per cent reduction in Term 1 exam weightage and an increase of 20 to 30 per cent in Term 2 weightage should be adopted while preparing the final results.
The issue of Unfair means
Alleging that many schools may have adopted unfair means and malpractices while conducting and marking students during Term 1 examinations to make their books look good, some private schools have urged CBSE to reduce the weightage of the Term I examination for the 2021-2022 session.
In a letter to CBSE the National Progressive Schools’ Conference (NPSC) chairperson Vineet Joshi has suggested that the weightage of the Term 1 Examination should be reduced in the range of 20 per cent to 30 per cent while the weightage of the Term 2 Examination should be increased in the range of 70 per cent to 80 per cent.
This letter was sent a few days after the CBSE Term-1 results of classes 10 and 12.
The NPSC, which is an association of senior secondary schools across the country and has 195 private schools under its umbrella, argued that the performance of students in the schools where the exams were conducted with complete honesty and integrity has not been at par with the students of other flagged schools.
It was also observed that since Term 1 was conducted at the home centres, many students of some schools scored full marks in most of the subjects raising concern and alarming possibilities of unfair means.
This has adversely affected the morale of students and the stakeholders.
CBSE Term 1 and Term 2 Board Exams - Key Points to Remember
1. Term 1 Scores are not the final marks scored by the students.
2. CBSE is yet to determine the weightage of Term 1 and Term 2, which will most probably be decided after the Term 2 examination.
3. For the students who have not appeared for the Term 1 examination, CBSE will be giving marks considering their Term 2 performance.
4. Moderation, grace marks policy and normalization of the scores would be done by CBSE after the final result is computed.
5. There will be only 1 mark sheet provided by the CBSE for Class 10, 12 Results 2022 after Term 2.
6. Pass, Fail and Compartment decisions would be taken based on Final results, which would be computed by the board after the Term 2 examination.
Now that you have more clarity regarding the weightage of Term 1 and Term 2. Pull all your focus on your preparation no matter what the board will decide.
Term 2 is very crucial in making or breaking your perfect final score so come what may remember to believe in your preparation and yourself.
