ICSE changes exam pattern

Updated on: Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Kolkata: A Class X student can pass ICSE and ISC with one language - provided it is English.

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) has decided students sitting for their ICSEs from 2012 will not need to pass their second language paper - which in the case of West Bengal – is Bengali or Hindi.

The curricula will be revised in such a way that student get more focus on communication and listening skills.

Students will also have to study an additional textbook in English and this includes a play by Shakespeare.

The board has taken out environmental science despite a Supreme Court ruling making it compulsory across all levels of education. Environmental Science will be integrated into geography and biology from 2012.

Students, however, are not happy at the exclusion of environmental science from board exams as it was seen as a “scoring paper” used to lift aggregates.

Schools and parents expressed a mixed reaction to the changes. Some teachers feel that environmental science should not have been taken out of the syllabus. Other teachers felt that students would not take the low-scoring second language as seriously. The move to include listening and communication skills in English was seen as an innovative move.

There are 300 ICSE schools in the state.

ICSE changes exam pattern

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