The Centre on Tuesday said that the CBSE Board would meet at the end of this year to make class X board exams compulsory for all its students from next academic session. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the board will pass a resolution to this effect by December end.
“This month there will be a CBSE Board meeting, in which there will be a resolution (for compulsory class X board exams). So, I am very sure, from academic session 2017-18, Board examination will be mandatory for all students,” Javadekar said.
The Minister also asserted that it was “unfair” that 23 million students in the country were taking various examinations - State boards and CBSE- and yet two million were not. Under the present norms, CBSE students can choose between the Board exam or a school based examination.
The Minister also said the HRD Ministry is working on an amendment to the Right to Education Act (RTE), and a proposal has been approved by the law Ministry that would come to the Cabinet in a week or two and thereafter it will go to Parliament.
"Even if it is referred to a Standing Committee, I hope by April, we will have an amendment which will allow states to take a call on whether to have detention or no detention," Javadekar said recating to a query.
Presently, the 'No Detention' provision under the RTE Act does not allow students to be failed or detained till class VIII. The states will be given freedom to choose between having examination for classes V and VIII, Javadekar said.
"But we are also simultaneously saying that if you take it and somebody's detained, he should not lose one year. There should be a supplementary exam two months after and then he again joins the next batch. So that he does not lose a year but there is accountability for the student also," the HRD minister said.
"We don't want to create exam oriented pressure on students but there has to be a challenge mode," he said.