Mohali: The Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), after introducing the semester system for classes IX and XI last year on a trial basis, has now, after getting the nod from the State Education Minister, sought to introduce the same for classes X and XII.

PSEB chairperson Mr. Dalbir Singh Dhillon said that the decision has been unanimously arrived at a meeting held with consulting educationists, principals, HODs and other stakeholders.

The syllabus, as per the guidelines is divided into two parts. The first part will start from April 1 to September 30 and the second from October 1 to March 31.

The first semester will cover 40% of the syllabus followed by an objective type exam while the remaining will be covered in the second part with a subjective exam at the end.

20% marks are reserved for the internal assessment of the board classes, while a committee under Avtar Singh, a former SCERT Chief, will decide norms for such assessment.

However, there is another decision lining up in the list of suggestions to group subjects, segregating the compulsory and optional ones.

In the first group, compulsory subjects consist of English, Punjabi, Maths and Science and in the second group, it will be mandatory to have one compulsory subject out of social science and Hindi.

The third group will consist of one optional subject other than computer science and physical education.

“The report cards of classes X and XII would consist of grades as well as marks. Along with the introduction of the semester system, it has been proposed to introduce 40 per cent continuous comprehensive evaluation and 60 per cent board exam evaluation,” he added.