Kolkata: CISCE to introduce robotics, AI, data science in Class IX from next year


SOURCE: TIMESOFINDIA.INDIATIMES.COM
JUL 30, 2022

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KOLKATA: The Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) will introduce tech-based courses, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science in Class IX, for students set to appear for their Class X board (ICSE) exams in 2025. The new courses will be rolled out from the 2023-24 academic session.
The courses would be introduced in a staggered manner so that students could adapt to the changing curriculum, aimed at promoting critical thinking among youngsters, said Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary, CISCE, on Friday. The upgraded version of the courses will be introduced in higher classes in later stages. “These courses will be introduced at the class IX and X level so that students get acquainted with the basic concepts. This is part of our plan to minimise rote learning and emphasise conceptual clarity,” said Arathoon. “The courses have been developed in collaboration with IIT Delhi to redesign the curriculum in a manner to suit the requirements of modern education.”


The council has started online training programmes for teachers to acquaint them to the new methods of assessment of students. Offline training of teachers will also start soon. “The National Education Policy lays a lot of emphasis on assessment and holistic development of students. We have always followed that method and are now realigning our curriculum to encourage analysis, critical thinking and conceptual clarity. While we are introducing these concepts in a staggered manner so that students get used to them, we are also training the teachers to assess students on these benchmarks. We will be minimising rote learning and focus will be more on critical thinking and multiple-choice questions,” said Arathoon.
The council has decided to revert to its one examination format, which was done away with during the pandemic and a two-semester system was introduced. Class XII boards ISC exams will start first in February-March next year, followed by Class X ICSE exams.

Arathoon pointed out students from Bengal had performed well in both ICSE and ISC this year, despite the various difficulties they faced due to the pandemic. There have been debates on how students from the CBSE board had been getting higher marks in boards than their counterparts in other boards and council. “The students have performed really well. The strategy to cover 50% syllabus in the first semester and 50% in the second semester ensured students were not burdened,” he added.

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