The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) through an official notice dated October 19, 2021; has decided to postpone the ICSE and ISC 2021-22 Semester 1 examination. The Board did not cite any particular reason behind this decision but has simply stated that the reasons are beyond its control. In due course of time, all stakeholders are going to be informed about the revised schedule of the examinations.
The ICSE and ISC Semester 1 examinations were supposed to commence on November 15, 2021, and end on December 06, 2021, for class 10. For class 12, the exams were scheduled to commence on November 15, 2021, and end on December 16, 2021. Students can check the postponement notice from the official CISCE website – cisce.org.
CISCE has divided the 2021-22 board exams into two semesters, a pattern that is similar to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and some other state boards. In fact, most of these boards will be conducting the upcoming class 10 and 12 board exams over two terms. CBSE will be conducting the Term 1 exams in November-December as well.
Earlier, CISCE officials had informed that the Semester 1 examinations will be online while the Semester 2 exams will either be in online or offline mode. The mode of conducting the examination depends on the COVID-19 situation in the country. In terms of the question paper pattern, each semester examination will be of 80/100 marks for ICSE and 70/80 marks for ISC. As per the Board, the weightage of marks for computation of results will be brought down to half. Furthermore, the board has also reduced the syllabi for various subjects keeping in mind the academic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The students will also be assessed based on the practical or project work at the ISC level. For the ICSE students, the assessment Internal Assessment, in addition to the semester exams. If the situation remains feasible, then the ISC practicals will be held by external examiners. Alternatively, the practical examinations have to be conducted via the respective schools in the online/virtual mode.
The schools must ensure that the practical/project work or the internal assessments are completed in due course of time. These grades will then be evaluated and marked by the ISC’s visiting examiners and ICSE’s internal examiners. Every school must also maintain a track record of these examinations because the Council may ask for sample work. Later on, CISCE will mention the date before which the schools have to upload the marks on the CAREERS portal.
