Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has announced that Class 10 and 12 students can appear for board examinations twice a year starting from the 2025-26 academic session. This decision aims to alleviate academic stress among students.
The initiative aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which advocates for biannual board exams to provide students with multiple opportunities to excel academically. The New Curriculum Framework (NCF), introduced by the Ministry of Education in August last year, specifies that board examinations will be conducted at least twice annually, allowing students to improve their performance and retain their best scores.
During an event in Chhattisgarh, Pradhan engaged with students and asked for their feedback on the new policy. He encouraged them to take advantage of both exam sessions and keep their highest scores. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s vision through the NEP is to keep students stress-free, enrich them with quality education, maintain their cultural connections, and prepare them for the future. This is the formula for making India a developed country by 2047,” Pradhan stated.
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It is important to note that the new biannual board exam system for Classes 10 and 12 is optional and not mandatory.
During his visit to Chhattisgarh, the Union Minister launched the PM SHRI (Prime Minister Schools for Rising India) scheme. In the first phase, 211 schools in the state, including 193 elementary and 18 secondary schools, will be upgraded using a ‘hub and spoke’ model, with each school receiving ₹2 crore for improvements. Under this model, a central mentor institution (the ‘hub’) will guide and support its associated schools (the ‘spokes’).
Chhattisgarh’s School and Higher Education Minister Brijmohan Agrawal has requested that more secondary and higher secondary schools be included in the scheme’s next phase, which Pradhan has acknowledged.
