The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Monday approved a string of HRD Minister Kapil Sibal’s reforms in education—development of a Core Curriculum for Science & Mathematics for all school boards, grading system in CBSE schools from current year, optional Class X exams from next academic session, an independent policy making body for higher education and proposed legislations to check malpractices in institutes of higher education.

The CABE also approved the plans to set up national and state levels tribunals to adjudicate over disputes between students and institutes, policy to attract fresh talent to institutes, semester systems in universities and attempts to build consensus on the creation of a Central Madrasa Board.

Speaking at the CABE meeting, Sibal said the new overarching policy making authority for higher education would cover all professional and technical courses except agricultural and medical sciences through five regulatory arms.

Putting at rest concerns raised by West Bengal education minister over the ministry’s reported plan to outsource mandatory assessment and accreditation in Higher Education to private agencies, Sibal said there was no such plan. The minister also said he had not asked states to make the Class X board exams optional. “CBSE will make boards optional for Class X students who continue in the same school in Class XI and go through Comprehensive and Continuous Evaluations (CEE) in the school. CBSE schools will also switch to a grading system instead of marking system in Class X as was announced earlier. This, however, is not something other schools have to follow,” Sibal said.

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