What is CBSE’s New Pattern of Questions for class 9-12?

What are
competency-based questions?

why are competency-based questions introduced by CBSE for class 9th to

12th?

To break the habit of rote learning CBSE has come up with a new type of question
format for class 9th to 12th. It will help to boost the IQ of students to enable them to
compete with international students.

Now we come to the first question – what is competency-based questions. CBSE will
assess the students of class 9th to 12th on the basis of the application of concepts in real
life or unfamiliar situation. CBSE has termed this new type competency-based
questions.

How will these questions look like?

These questions will also be asked as MCQ, short and long answer questions as usual
but these would not be directly related to the story of the lesson. Explore First Flight
lesson wise questions here.

Now onwards reading lesson summary would not do the work. Students have to read the
lesson thoroughly, word by word, to grasp it in a proper way.

Can you give an example of competency-based questions?

If you are still unclear about this new concept, let’s understand it with the help of some
examples. These questions will be related to your lesson but these are not given in the
lesson itself. For example in class 10 English ‘First Flight’ a character Lencho from
lesson 1 ‘A letter to God’ writes a letter to God asking for money after his crops are
damaged by a hailstorm.

You may be asked real life-based questions here, which may look like- what would you
have done if you were in place of Lencho?

The story does not tell the readers about the reaction of Lencho’s wife after the help-
seeking letter incident but the examiner might ask you – Write a conversation between
Lencho and his wife after he comes back from the post office. OR

Do you think Amanda was a rude child? How would you react if your mobile phone is
lost?

How would competency based questions judge the students expertise?

According to you what would be the reaction of Lencho’s wife after he comes back from
the post office? This answer will judge your home environment, the involvement of
ladies in household matters, your personal views on Lencho’s writing a letter to God,
your communication skills and of course your English writing skills.
As these questions do not have a standard answer, every student needs to write down his
or her own answer based on personal knowledge and skill. This way students will learn
things in real life and stop cramming the age-old questions which just asked- who is ‘I’
in these lines? Who was Nelson Mandela? Why the boy was crying? with which toy the
boy was playing (The ball poem)?