Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said that students will have the option of sitting for 10th and 12th class board examinations twice a year starting from the academic session 2025-26. Pradhan said that the plan aims to reduce academic stress and aligns with the objectives outlined in the National Education Policy (NEP) introduced in 2020.

He underscored that the NEP 2020 envisages biannual board examinations to provide students with ample opportunities to excel academically.

According to the New Curriculum Framework (NCF) announced by the ministry of education in August last year, board examinations will be held at least twice a year to ensure students have enough time and opportunity to perform well. They will also get the option to retain the best score.

During the event at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay auditorium in Raipur, Pradhan interacted with students, gauging their reception to the new examination format and urged them to aim for their highest potential across both exam sittings.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s vision through the NEP is to keep students stress-free, enrich them with quality education, keep students linked with culture and prepare them for the future. This is the formula for making India a developed country by 2047,” he said.

Pradhan was speaking at the launch of the PM SHRI (Prime Minister Schools for Rising India) scheme in Chhattisgarh. Under the first phase of the scheme, 211 schools in the state will be upgraded on a ‘hub and spoke’ model by spending ₹2 crore on each of them, he said.

“Education in Indian languages ​​lies at the core of the National Education Policy 2020. My expectation from the Government of Chhattisgarh is that they will implement all the dimensions of #NEP2020 including Kindergarten in letter and spirit from the next academic session,” the minister said in a post on X.