CBSE plans to introduce CCTV monitoring in board exam centers

In order to address the issue of "inconsistency and potential inflation of marks in internal assessments," the CBSE intends to work with the British Council to develop a framework for internal assessments for the science subject for Classes 6 through 12. This information is contained in the minutes of the board's June meeting. The CBSE is also thinking about CCTV recordings of classrooms where students are taking board exams because of the “risk of disturbances at the exam centres”, the minutes said.

The CBSE will be creating a structure for benchmarking and reviewing standards, stated the minutes recently made public. A team of CBSE officials will be holding capacity-building workshops for school administrators and coordinators to ensure consistency, transparency, and fairness in internal assessment practices to mitigate issues such as "inequity in educational outcomes and disengagement among students", it stated.

The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) and the Holistic Progress Cards, which were created as part of the government's effort to realign school report cards with the NCFSE, will be followed by the internal assessment framework. On the CCTV recordings of board exam rooms the minutes stated that “anyone with vested interest can vitiate the exams” adding that “real-time feedback from the ground gives necessary inputs to administer the exam in a proper way".

The plan calls for the installation of CCTV cameras in classrooms, with the CBSE covering a portion of the cost. Exam centers will be able to upload CCTV recordings from each exam day to a data bank that will be established at the CBSE headquarters via an online link. The committee is scheduled to be constituted in order to evaluate the infrastructure need, implementation, "IT system efficacy," and processing of data acquired from schools. The proposal is intended to be implemented starting with the exam in 2025.

According to the plan, at least 30% of the centers in an area may be onboarded as a pilot project, and this may then be expanded to all centers.