Special Correspondent
Pune: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will begin conducting the Class X board exams twice a year starting from the academic year 2026-27. Additionally, the board will introduce a global curriculum for its 260 affiliated foreign schools, aiming to enhance the educational experience.
This decision was finalized during a high-level meeting chaired by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, where officials from the Education Ministry, CBSE, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) participated. The draft for the new curriculum, which includes major Indian subjects, is expected to be made public on Monday.
According to the Ministry of Education, the introduction of a global curriculum for foreign schools is part of an effort to align Indian education with international standards. A detailed action plan will be developed by the CBSE to implement this new curriculum by the 2026-27 academic year.
In line with the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), which was introduced to implement the National Education Policy 2020, students will have the option to appear for board exams twice in a year. The initiative aims to reduce exam-related stress by allowing students to retake the exams if they are not satisfied with their initial results. Only the best marks from both attempts will be considered, ensuring that students are not penalized for a single poor performance.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took to social media platform ‘X’ to emphasize that the primary objective behind the exam reforms is to create a stress-free learning environment for students. He stated, “A draft plan is being prepared to conduct CBSE board exams twice a year. Creating a stress-free learning environment for students remains the prime objective of the government. Exam reforms are an important step in this direction.”
