Beginning as early as the next academic year, the Class X board examination could be done away with in the state. TheGujaratgovernment has initiated an exercise to adopt theNational Education Policy(NEP) 2020 which recommends doing away with the Class X board examination system with the rationale of reducing the burden of board examinations that students face in X and XII standards.
Although the implications of this exercise are huge – and involves engagement with a wide range of stakeholders who will get impacted, sources in the government said that beingPM Narendra Modi‘s Home state, Gujarat aims to take the lead in implementing recommendations of the NE.
Instead of the existing 10 + 2 system (10 years of secondary and two years of higher secondary), the new NEP envisages a 5 + 3 + 3 + 3 structure. According to NEP 2020, the first five years will be considered foundational and will include class nursery to class 2. The next three years class 3 to 5 will be preparatory, the next three years class 6 to 8 will be middle and the last four classes 9th to 12th will be secondary.
The NEP recommends that children who are minimum of 4 years old should be admitted to nursery class. This will mean that students who appear for class XII examination will be 18 years old.