ISLAMABAD: The Board of Governors (BoG) of the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) has approved a new policy under which two exams of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) will be conducted in a year.

The exams will now be held in May as well as September. It was also decided that the FBISE would conduct annual exams of Class 8 for the first time.

The new policy will come into effect from the academic year 2022.

According to a press release issued on Wednesday, two annual exams will provide unlimited chances to students who fail in some papers to clear them and save precious time.

The BoG also decided to introduce more combinations of subjects like Biology with Mathematics or Economics, Environmental Studies with Chemistry and so on.

The board officials said mix and match would help in preparing new programmes such as mechatronics and bio-informatics.

Board exams for Class 8 to be introduced; Papers to be set in line with new curriculum

“This policy will make FBISE consistent with international practices,” read the press release, adding that the BoG also approved relative marking, stating that it was more dynamic and allowed flexibility compared to absolute marking. The baseline is set by highest and lowest scores.

“It is important to have a competency-based exam in Grade 8 to guide students towards education pathways. In these examinations only key subjects/skills should be tested. FBISE shall split subjects for external exams over two years for Matric. Same will apply for Intermediate,” the press release said, adding that this would help release burden on students as they could choose the subjects to appear in the first year and second year of the exams. The board will issue certificates for classes 10 and 12 only, it said.

The BoG also decided to reframe paper setting, aligning it with the curriculum, instead of testing for rote learning.

Meanwhile, sources said a subcommittee formed by the BoG in its previous meeting also finalised its report regarding auction and purchase of vehicles, which is likely to be presented in the upcoming meeting.

The subcommittee was recently formed by the BoG in response to the board’s proposal to auction vehicles and purchase new ones.

The subcommittee’s meeting recommended that instead of purchasing new vehicles for local use in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the board should avail online taxi service or a similar facility.

The subcommittee allowed auction of four vehicles of the board and as replacement, it recommend purchase of one Toyota Hilux Single Cabin and three Toyota Hiaces.

It decided that all other vehicles, whose details were presented before it, could be auctioned after the approval of the BoG.

The subcommittee comprised of Secretary AJK Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Mirpur, Sajid Aziz Noor, MNA Ali Nawaz Awan and Principal National School and College Chaudhry Javed Iqbal.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2021