Students of Classes 8 and 9 in the 1,000 government-run schools that are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in Andhra Pradesh have to brace for a new pattern of examinations.
As part of the decision to implement the CBSE pattern of examination in the schools under Phase-I in the year 2023-24, the School Education Department has rescheduled the Periodic Written Test (PWT)-2 (FA-II) for Classes 8 and 9 from October 6 to 9, instead of October 3 to 5, 2023.
As per the CBSE academic calendar, the new academic year (2023-24) had started from April 2, 2023, and it would conclude on March 21, 2024.
Students of the schools following the CBSE syllabus had written their PWT-I / Unit Test-I in August this year. They will be writing the PWT-II / UT-II from October 6 to 9. The Term-I test will be in November, PWT-3 in January, 2024, PWT-4 in February and Term-II / Annual Examinations in March 2024.
Hereafter, all the CBSE examinations will be conducted in the new pattern in the State. Officials in the department said the rescheduling had been done to create awareness and proper understanding of the new pattern, and the District Education Officers (DEOs) across the State were asked to issue instructions to the Principals / HMs of the 1,000 CBSE-affiliated government schools to prepare the students of Classes 8 and 9 in the CBSE pattern for PWT-2.
20 marks for internal assessment
The final examinations will be for 80 marks, while 20 marks will be for internal assessment. Teachers in these select schools are tasked with framing at least 10% of the questions for internal assessment on the pattern of questions given in the competitive examinations.
Of the 20 marks, 5 marks each will be earmarked for Pen Paper Test, Multiple Assessment Test, Portfolio Test, and subject enrichment activities.
Under the Pen Paper Test, three tests — mid-term, pre-mid and post-mid — will be conducted to gradually increase the portion of the contents and instil confidence in the students to appear for the board examinations with 100% syllabus.
Under the Multiple Assessment Test, teachers will grade a student’s performance in activities such as quiz, oral test, concept map, exit cards, visual expressions, self and peer assessment, collaborative projects, experiments and classroom demonstrations, while under Portfolio Test comes classwork, self-assessment and peer assessment, achievements of the student in the subject, reflections and narrations.
Subject-specific activities to enrich the understanding and upskill the student will be taken up by subject teachers, who will allot internal marks for ‘Subject Enrichment Activities’.
