The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has sanctioned a proposal to implement open-book assessments for the final exams of Class 9 starting from the academic session of 2026-27, following a pilot study, as reported by the Indian Express.
According to the report, the governing body of the CBSE approved the open-book exam proposal during a meeting that took place in June.
Furthermore, the report indicated that this proposal aligns with the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSC) 2023 and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and it encompasses open-book assessments for Class 9 in subjects such as language, mathematics, science, and social science.
The discussion regarding the open-book assessment proposal occurred during the CBSE curriculum committee meeting in November 2023, and it received approval the previous year.
In accordance with the proposal, a pilot implementation of open-book tests was planned to be conducted in selected schools for English, Mathematics, and Science for Classes 9 and 10, as well as for English, Mathematics, and Biology for Classes 11 and 12. This initiative aimed to evaluate the responses of stakeholders and the duration required by students to complete these tests.
“The initiative to execute an OBE pilot in certain schools was deliberated as part of the NCF recommendations. It could potentially be utilized in internal examinations to encourage innovative thinking among students. However, it remains in the ideation phase, and there are no current plans to incorporate the OBE format into the CBSE Class 10 and 12 board examinations,” a senior CBSE official informed the Hindustan Times last year.
The Indian Express report highlighted that there are obstacles in administering open-book examinations, including low success rates identified in the pilot study; nevertheless, educators have shown optimism regarding the system due to its capacity to enhance critical thinking. The CBSE intends to formulate standardized sample papers to maintain the quality of the questions.
The board will establish a framework for open-book internal examinations for Class 9, and it is anticipated that participation will not be compulsory for schools, as stated in the Indian Express report, which cited an unnamed source.
This is not the first instance in which the central board has trialed open-book examinations. The board had implemented Open Text-Based Assessment (OTBA) for the examinations of Classes 9 and 11 from the academic years 2014-15 to 2016-17. At that time, feedback from both the student body and educators was largely unfavorable.
What constitutes an open-book exam?
In contrast to conventional examinations, open-book tests permit students to utilize textbooks and other pertinent materials to respond to questions. These assessments typically consist of conceptual and analytical inquiries that necessitate students to read, interpret, and apply the concepts.
The purpose of open-book exams is to evaluate students’ higher-order thinking abilities by moving away from the traditional examination format, thereby encouraging them to transition from rote memorization to a deeper understanding required to succeed in the assessment.
