Schools have been strictly instructed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to follow the academic calendar and not to start the new academic session before April 1. They are advised to follow the academic session from April 1 to March 31. A circular was issued by the board after it was reported that some schools started the new academic session early this year.
As stated in the circular, “Attempting to complete an entire year’s worth of coursework in a reduced timeframe poses risks for students who may get overwhelmed and struggle to keep up with the pace of learning, leading to anxiety and burnout.”
As per the board, starting the session early leaves hardly any time for extracurricular activities which are equally important as academics. These activities include - value education, life skills, health & physical education, work education, and community service.
The circular further reads, “The Principals and Heads of Institutions of the schools affiliated with the board are, therefore advised to refrain from beginning academic sessions before April 1steach year and strictly follow academic session from 1stApril to 31st March.”
Over 38 lakh students across 7,250 centres are appearing for the CBSE board exams which began on 15thFebruary for classes 10 and 12. The board exams for class 10 covering 76 subjects will end by 21st march, and the board exams for class 12 covering 115 subjects will get over on 15th April