ICSE and ISC Exam Pattern Change in 2024: Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has issued a notification regarding the increase in the number of Higher-Order Thinking and Critical Analysis starting from the upcoming 2024 ICSE and ISC examinations. Stating “there will be an increase in critical thinking questions in the 2023 board examinations” the notification informs the students, educators and other stakeholders about the changes that the Council has made in the spirit of NEP 2020. The initiatives of CISCE post the announcement of the policy have been enlisted and the upcoming programs and initiatives are also elaborated upon such as School Leadership Training Programmes, Capacity Building Programme for Teachers and other Webinars.
ICSE and ISC Examinations 2024: More HOTS and Critical Thinking Questions
Starting from the 2024 ICSE and ISC examinations, there will be a small increase in the number of questions that require higher-order thinking and critical analysis. Following the 2023-24 ICSE and ISC Examinations, the amount of HOTS and similar questions will increase more, gradually.
To help students and teachers through these gradual changes and to support their journey, CISCE will soon provide Specimen Sample Question Papers 2024.
CISCE Chief Executive and Secretary Gerry Arathoon has also advised schools to include these new types of questions in both regular assessments and final exams to prepare students for the upcoming changes.
Why is CISCE Making Changes in 2023-24 Board Exam Pattern?
CISCE aims for all its affiliated schools to have a unified approach to learning, in sync with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Not just for the ICSE and ISC exam candidates but the Council wants to make changes that will also reach students in lower grades. Although the ICSE and ISC Examinations will be the anchor of these changes for now, CISCE plans to gradually prepare students, starting from middle school, to adapt to the new ways of learning. The goal of CISCE is to introduce teachers, students, and parents to the recommendations and changes suggested by NEP 2020 quite early on in the student’s academic life i.e. in middle school. This will help the students, parents and teachers collectively understand what to expect regarding the upcoming changes in the exam papers beginning from this academic year 2023-2024.
CISCE and NEP 2020
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has been instrumental in promoting educational assessment boards in India to embrace change. NEP aims to equip students and teachers with the skills and knowledge required in the rapidly evolving learning environment of the 21st century. NEP 2020 Policy recommendations are not just for the policymakers, heads of schools and educators alone. These recommendations are eventually set to impact the students’ life for the better. In the spirit of NEP 2020, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has already implemented several initiatives, which are as follows:
- Workshops on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for teachers of Pre- Nursery to Class III to train them as Master Trainers.
- Capacity Building Workshops on Strengthening Assessments for teachers of Classes IX to XII to train them as Master Trainers.
- Introduced new Vocational and Skill-based subjects i.e., Artificial Intelligence & Robotics, Cashier, Dietetic Aide, Basic Data Entry Operator etc.
- Prepared Resource material on focus areas of National Education Policy 2020 pertaining to School Education.
CISCE’s Implementation of NEP 2020 Policy in 2023-24
To take this up a notch, CISCE is preparing to conduct the following programmes for Heads of schools and teachers:
- School Leadership Training Programmes.
- Capacity Building Programme for teachers.
- Webinars in the following areas –
(a) Vocationalization of Education
(b) Hospitality Management
(c) Beauty & Wellness
(d) Artificial Intelligence & Robotics, etc.
(e) Financial Literacy
(f) Foundational Literacy and Numeracy
CISCE Collaborates with Educational Initiatives (Ei)
Aligned with the policy, CISCE is collaborating with Educational Initiatives (Ei) to receive technical and advisory support to bring about changes in the areas of assessment, pedagogy and technology. Ei will complement the efforts of CISCE to bring true the vision of NEP 2023. The key focus areas will be the capacity building of teachers and enhanced exposure of students to critical thinking and higher-order questions.
These will bring a positive change in the approach to learning, from rote-based to one based on understanding and application of concepts.
- Capacity Building of Teachers to enhance the knowledge and skills of teachers in assessment and help them create high-quality questions. Workshops will focus on important assessment principles, the significance of good assessment items, different types of assessment items, and the techniques for writing effective questions. The schedule for these workshops will be communicated to schools at a later time.
- Creation of a repository of resources to familiarize both teachers and students with assessments that test application, analysis and critical thinking skills with:
- Question or Item Banks
- Learning Frameworks
- Blueprints
- Video explanation of concepts on assessments
- Videos and documents explaining some common misconceptions among students.
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