New Delhi (Rajeev Sharma): The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced stricter eligibility rules for students appearing in the Class X and XII Board examinations, making 75 per cent attendance compulsory. Students failing to meet this requirement will not be allowed to sit for the exams.
According to the Board, Classes X and XII must be treated as two-year programmes—covering Classes IX and X, and Classes XI and XII respectively. Students must study all subjects across both years to qualify for the final examinations.
Internal assessment, which is a key component under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, will also be mandatory. The CBSE clarified that if a student skips school regularly, their internal evaluation cannot be completed, making it impossible to declare their results. Such students will be placed in the “Essential Repeat Category,” even if they are formally enrolled as regular candidates.
The Board also directed affiliated schools not to offer subjects without prior approval. At the secondary level, students may take two additional subjects apart from the five compulsory ones, while senior secondary students may register for only one additional subject. Schools without the required teachers, laboratories, or infrastructure cannot register students for such courses.
The new norms are seen as an effort to curb the role of “dummy schools” that enroll students only for Board exams while bypassing the attendance requirement. Officials say the changes will ensure greater student participation in classrooms and lessen reliance on private coaching centres.
