Class-VI TO IX: Annual exams to be held on short syllabus

This year's annual exams for classes six to nine will be conducted under a shortened syllabus, according to the guidelines issued by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) yesterday.

The year-end exams, which will run for three hours each, will be evaluated in two parts -- a learning assessment conducted throughout the year and an annual exam.

The learning assessment will account for 30 percent of the total marks and the annual exam 70 percent.

The NCTB said the assessments will be based on the contents of textbooks prepared under the National Curriculum 2022.

According to the guidelines, schools are responsible for conducting learning assessments under the supervision of their teachers. They will also have to prepare annual exam questions based on sample question papers provided by the NCTB. Using these questions, schools will administer the annual exams.

The learning assessment would include activities such as unit work and pair work.

The guidelines said the records of the completed assessments must be maintained properly, and all such activities should be completed before the annual exams begin.

A student will pass in a subject if they secure at least a D grade (33-39 marks). However, students receiving a D grade in three or more subjects will not be promoted to the next class.

In such cases, the head of the institution, in consultation with the subject teachers, may promote particular students under special consideration only for the 2024 academic year, the NCTB said.

In the new curriculum of 2022, there were no exams for classes six to nine. Students were promoted based on continuous and summative assessments.

Education Adviser Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud recently said it does not seem that the new curriculum, especially the evaluation method, is implementable.

He said implementation of the new curriculum with the existing teachers is tough. "In many cases, the new curriculum is not suitable for the country."

Implementation of the new experiment- and activity-based curriculum started on January 1 last year. Currently, the curriculum is followed in classes one, two, three, six, seven, eight, and nine.