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The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has sanctioned the open-book examination for Class 9 students from the 2026-27 academic year. The same was sanctioned after the results of the feasibility and acceptance pilot study in schools were encouraging.

As detailed in the reports, the proposal was sanctioned by the CBSE Governing Body, the board's apex decision-making body, in a meeting in June. The program is in line with the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023, aligned on the template of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Structure and design of the assessment

According to the approved plan, open-book tests would be included as part of internal tests carried out by the schools for Class 9. They would be one of the three pen-paper tests administered for every term. The fundamental subjects that would be covered by this model would include language, mathematics, science, and social science.

Although the model will be suggested to schools, it will not be compulsory. Instead, it will be a model for schools to follow if they decide to use this kind of examination. Schools will be directed on how to appropriately administer open-book exams.

Objective and reason behind the change

CBSE's action is aligned with what is suggested in the NCFSE, which is shifting from the rote route to competency-based learning. Open-book examinations are now intended to be a way to assess students' skills to interpret, apply, and analyse information instead of memorization of facts.

The open-book format enables the students to use documents like textbooks, class notes, and library materials in reference to trying questions. This format is designed to examine their capacity to adjust available information presented elsewhere, which remains a key tenet of the NEP 2020.

Pilot study and previous attempts

In December 2023, the CBSE had sanctioned a pilot study to implement open-book examination in Classes 9 to 12. The pilot was conducted to study aspects such as the duration of time taken to finish the tests along with the attitude of stakeholders such as students, teachers, and school administrators. The study, as per the media reports, showed robust support from teachers for open-book modes being brought in.

This is not for the first time when CBSE tested open-book exams. In 2014, the board had launched an Open Text Based Assessment (OTBA) for Class 9 in Hindi, English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Science. It was later launched in Class 11 for Economics, Biology, and Geography. There, four months prior to the final exam, the reference material was provided to the students. Still, the OTBA was withdrawn in the 2017-18 year as it was not found to enhance critical thinking among the students to any great extent. Implementation and future directions

The new scheme will try to promote higher-order thinking among the students and will compel schools to have the required capacity and training. CBSE has plans to support the schools with clear guidelines on how to administer these tests within their internal assessment system.

The program will develop a more application-based pattern of assessment in accordance with the overall purposes of the NEP 2020 and the NCFSE 2023

The training was not your run-of-the-mill workshop but an experiential, simulation and highly contextualized one so that teachers didn't merely learn but lived through them

In a major step towards class room change and 21st-century skill building, Telangana State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in partnership with Pi Jam Foundation successfully organized a two-day high-intensity capacity building training for state government school teachers. The focus was on equipping teachers with skills, attitudes, and methods to appropriately embrace and utilize the newly-released Digital Learning Textbooks for Grades one through nine, an innovative effort by the Telangana Education department.

Spread over two days, the training was not the typical workshop. It was immersive, experiential, and deeply grounded in real-life scenarios to ensure that teachers did not just learn concepts, but experience them. The objective was not only the acquisition of skills but also developing an attitude of thinking, problem-solving, and applicability to the lives of students. The sessions were deliberately scaffolded in a way that they were in close proximity with the digital content of the new textbooks so that the same energy, relevance, and depth could be transferred by teachers in classes.

The initiative of Telangana's digital learning textbooks is a milestone moment in the delivery of content and learning by students. To facilitate learning on a continuous basis and ensuring equitable access, the state will use telangana.codemitra.org an expert digital platform where parents, teachers, and students can learn from the same experiential learning modules. "The energy in the room was palpable," said a teacher who was present. "First time I realized how I can educate AI not only from screens, but also from games, stories, and the everyday life of our kids." - Mr. Madhusudan, Model School, Gundala, Yadadri Bhuvanagari

Highlights of the workshop were - simulation of real-world traffic scenarios by utilizing physical computing hardware such as LEDs and sensors to make the educators comprehend how real-world issues can be converted into coding exercises. The AI instruction that defined concepts like machine learning, data categorization, and bias in screen-free, tech-knowledged-free terms. The rest are - role-playing and team games on moral AI decision-making and algorithmic human biases, participating in intensive discussion and contemplation with design thinking sprints, where teachers addressed common school problems, empathized, and prototyped contextual solutions quickly. This project falls in line with Telangana's larger vision of developing curious, competent, and contextually aware learners who would be capable of contributing and succeeding in the world of tomorrow.

As per the suggestions of a 360-degree evaluation committee report submitted to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel recently, government schools will usher in soon a shift from a one-way evaluation system to one where students, parents, and peers will join in the evaluation process of teaching and learning along with teachers.

As reported by The Indian Express, the assessment committee that was set up last March 3 this year with the objective of revamping the student evaluation system also recommended the abolition of the so-called "ekum kasauti," or six-year-old unit test system.

Through a more informal, experiment-oriented, continuous assessment, the unit test — perhaps the most hated state government school educational program — was conducted in nearly 40,000 primary and middle government schools.

The committee has prepared a Holistic Progress Card (HPC) format for foundation, preparatory and middle level primary schools along with the recommendation report.

"The panel also recommended a shift in the weightage of assessment from written tests to practical and written tests on equal proportion", stated Jayendrasinh Jadav, educationist and Registrar of Gujarat Sahitya Akademi, Gandhinagar, who is chairperson of the state-level committee.

Three subcommittees were constituted to frame three Holistic Progress Cards for Balmandir, Classes 1 and 2, Classes 3 to 5, and Classes 6 to 8.

Education department officials indicated that a ruling on the implementation of the proposals will be announced after the submission of the report.

Moreover, the committee has opined that teachers should be in a position to decide when to administer tests aside from the four exams given within a school year (twice within a semester).

Ten other individuals, including members from primary and secondary teacher associations, constitute the committee besides Jadhav.

No sooner was the "ekum kasauti" launched in 2019–20 than teachers and educationists have time and again protested, represented, and opposed it. The Gujarat government, therefore, formed a special committee to consider student evaluations other than weekly, fortnightly, and monthly tests.

Besides being a CBSE Class 10 subject, social science is an interdisciplinary gateway to knowledge about global historic processes, geographic trends, political organisations, and economic decision-making. The subject, whose topics focus on geography, political science, economics, and history, leans the student towards critical thinking about society and the path of society's development over time.

Keeping in view the development of conceptual comprehension and analytical minds, the CBSE has made its official sample question papers of 2026 available. These are not practice pages in a strict sense; these are indicative of the increasing interest of the board in learning by application, application to real-world problems, and integration of subjects. Through observing the structure and design of such questions closely, the students are better equipped to understand content as well as context.

This clarification gives a concise summary of provided multiple-choice questions from the history segment of the Social Science sample paper. It tries to guide students by the hand in explaining right answers, defining key concepts, and identifying those areas where it is important to know—not memorize.

Section A (History)

Q1. Thousands of people emigrated from Europe to America during the 19th century due to

1. Poverty and fatal diseases
2. Recurring famines and unclean living
3. Recurring wars and political unrest
4. Hostile climate and recurring natural calamities

Q2. Louise-Sebastien Mercier wrote, "Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the world! Tremble before the virtual writer!"

Who are the tyrants here?

1. Educated classes with a reformatory aspiration for society
2. Absolutist institutions such as the monarchy and the church
3. Authors of the new books
4. Printing press

Section B (Geography)

Q1. What is needed for the development of resources to become total development?

1. Availability of resources standalone.
2. Foreign occupation and invaders.
3. Technological improvement and institutional reform.
4. Human resources can alone bring about development.

What is the most roundabout effect of poaching on tigers?

1. Decline of prey species, decreasing the food base for the tiger.
2. Human-wildlife conflict in protected areas increased
3. Increase in tiger population
4. Decline in national park tourist revenues

Section C (Political Science)

Q1: The following statement(s) is/are true regarding the ethnic makeup of Belgium:

1. 59 percent of Belgium's overall population reside in the Wallonia region and are French speakers.
2. 40 percent reside in the Flemish region and are Dutch speakers.
3. One percent of Belgians are German speakers.
4. In the capital city of Brussels, 80 per cent French speakers and 20 per cent Dutch speakers.

Select the right option:

1. I and II
2. III and IV
3. I, II and III
4. I and IV

Q2: Take the given case and select the right option

Assume that Government of India is going to issue new notes of various denominations to keep most of the black money. State government is against this Central government policy. Is the state government capable of preventing the union government from implementing the policy?

1. Yes, since Currency is a State List topic
2. No, since Currency is a Union List topic
3. Yes, since both the governments shall have to sanction this change.
4. No, since any such change shall have to be sanctioned by the local government as well.

Section D (Economics)

Underemployment is said to occur where -

1. More employees are employed than are actually required
2. Fewer employees are employed than are actually required
3. More than what the workers have earned are they hired
4. Only highly skilled workers are employed

What can be concluded about the disadvantages of employing per capita income (average income) when estimating well-being of countries? Choose the best one as the Answer.

1. It demonstrates how evenly or un-evenly the income is divided between the people living in a country.
2. Per capita income alone is sufficient to be aware of the development of a nation.
3. It provides a general idea about the economic affluence but conceals the inequality of income.
4. It provides only the industrial development of a nation but not any other significant determinant.

Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Thursday toured a job fair in a government school and described it as a sign of the increasing importance of vocational education. As something beyond a placement scheme, Sood emphasized the government's strategy of initiating path-breaking transformations within the next five years.

He mentioned that the government is interested in giving students academic as well as career skills. Sood also mentioned that the event put the growing importance of vocational training in Delhi government schools in the spotlight.

The event, organized at a Sarvodaya school in Rohini, was graced by local MLA Rajkumar Chauhan, top officials of the Education Department, students, their parents, and delegates from more than 30 firms like HCL, Haldiram, Citykart, Navgurukul, and Tech Mahindra. The firms were providing jobs to the students who had cleared Class 12 with vocational training, a statement added.

Discussing the role, Sood interacted with corporate officials concerning the recruitment process and the nature of salary and benefits provided to candidates.

He also discussed with students how they can mold their futures by entering the job market and contributing to society.

"All the 9 to 12 classes of Delhi government schools will be provided with smart classrooms, robotics, data science, ICT labs, and personal computers in the next five years," he stated.

"It is welcome that there is such heavy presence. More welcome is the change of times students now are starting to receive the correct opportunities on the basis of their skill, merit, and talent," he stated.

Sood also said more than 4.2 lakh students have chosen vocational training in different trades in Delhi government schools in the last academic year a clear pointer skill-based learning is becoming part of main-stream education.

He asserted that this program fits perfectly into the vision of the National Education Policy 2020, which is to balance scholastic and vocational education. "The Delhi government is trying to make every student school-ready as well as life-ready," he asserted.

He gave the credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of creating space for skill recognition and employment by launching schemes like Skill India. Sood stated that the government of Delhi, led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, is interested in moving that vision forward.

The minister further said that the Department of Education considers it to be everyone's responsibility to provide equal opportunities through skill development regardless of a student belonging to a particular background, religion, caste, or community.

He assured the students that they would never feel alien when they arrive at universities since their schools would equip them with theoretical and practical skills. "No student should have the notion that government schools impart only bookish knowledge; we are now providing skill-based education as well," the minister claimed.

Appreciating the efforts of top-notch recruiters such as HCL, Haldiram, and Tech Mahindra, Sood added that it is indicative of the combined muscle of school management, teachers, and the Education Department. "These companies approaching government schools and acknowledging the potential of our kids is a big statement," he added.

The government of Uttar Pradesh has reversed some of its important primary school merger policy. This is against the backdrop of increasing outrage among villages whose pupils were to have longer distances to walk to school or hazardous routes after small schools are closed.

Not more than one kilometre between any government school and another will be consolidated from now on. Furthermore, no school with over 50 students will be permitted to alter its size, the Basic Education Department stipulated in new guidelines.

RULES TO ENSURE SAFER, CLOSER ACCESS TO SCHOOLS

Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh validated it, stating it was done to ensure students' ease of access to education. "We are keeping in view the convenience, safety and education of the children," he added.

The state had earlier rigidly promoted a merger drive to integrate the school chain in dispersed enrolling villages. But it faced resistance from teachers' unions and panchayats upset that closures would contribute to the difficulty for children, particularly in far-flung villages, to go to school every day.

And then exceptions have been made by the government. Schools separated by a railway line, a river, or a road will not be consolidated, albeit one kilometre from another school.

Vacant school buildings will also not sit idle. These will be utilized to operate Anganwadi centres or Balvatika units for pre-primary education, retaining the facility occupied by smaller children in the region.

The previous policy of consolidation had confused and frightened the air in much of the state. Parents were not certain whether their neighborhood schools would close, and some believed their children would have to travel far or even traverse dangerous ground to go to a school elsewhere.

With the cuts, the government is attempting to set things right by reducing school facilities where required but not removing the minimum access. The teachers' unions too appreciated the step, terming it as a 'corrective measure'.

In most areas, even a few more kilometres to school can lead children, and particularly girls, to leave school. This new policy would be able to make a tangible difference in getting more children into classrooms, near their homes, safe, and in school.