CBSE To Introduce 'OPEN BOOK' Exam From This Year

Introducing on what could be the biggest change in Indian's School Examination System, the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) is all set to introduce an 'OPEN BOOK' section in the final exams for class 9, 10 and 11 from the current academic year.

The change also includes Class 12 but, shall be brought into practice only from next year onwards i.e. 2014-15. Open Book doesn't mean that students will be allowed to carry books into examination hall. Instead, students will be given case studies in each subject four months in advance. And the examination shall contain all questions from the given material. Moreover, this section will also carry weightage of about 20%.

The Chairman of CBSE Vineet Joshi said "This section will have questions based only on the case study given to the students. The idea is to do away with their routine learning and improve students ability to understand and apply concepts".

He also said that "the open book section will begin for all subjects in class 9 and 10. But, for class 12 CBSE has identified four subjects to start with which includes Biology, Economics, Geography and one language. The board has finalized the scheme and the case studies for the final exams will be given to students in November 2013."

"The board will soon inform the schools regarding the open book system and a notification will be issued within a week. While all subjects in senior school are included for the open book exam scheme which includes mathematics, social science, science and languages, for the senior secondary classes we have restricted it to just four subjects as of now," he added.

However, the open book exam will be part of the Summative Assessment II for class IX and also for those students who opt for school-based class X exams under the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation ( CCE) scheme instead of the board exams.