Addressing journalists here on Sunday, CBSE chairperson Ashok Ganguly said there was a paradigm shift in the CBSE from More of The Same (MOTS) system based on repetition and stereotypes to Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) with emphasis on interpretation and synthesis of knowledge.

* 20 p.c. questions to test critical thinking

* Board will not come out with early results

* Extra time to students to revise the answers

Extra time will be given in the exams for students to read the question paper and later revise the answers, he added.

Mr. Ganguly said that the CBSE was introducing "vocational competency" courses with industrial support. It had already introduced Financial Market Management for which a joint certification would be introduced by the CBSE and the National Stock Exchange.

Many more courses were being contemplated for students of the 11th and 12th standards in collaboration with bodies such as the National Institute of Fashion Technology and the National Association of Software and Services Companies. The subjects range from garment designing and retail management to general healthcare.

"The CBSE is also introducing new subjects in the area of arts. While Creative Writing and Translation Studies have already been introduced, others such as Film and Media, Heritage Craft and Gender Studies are in the pipeline," said Mr. Ganguly. The thinking process, he added, had already begun on introducing nano technology in the curriculum either as an integrated or a separate subject.

"While a five-point grading system is already in place to evaluate students up to standard V under the CBSE system, a system is being worked out to introduce a continuous and comprehensive evaluation system for 9th and 10th standards too," said Mr. Ganguly. There is also a proposal to put heads of institutions through strategic leadership training programme in association with Indian Institutes of Management at Bangalore, Ahmedabad and other centres. The CBSE may not be able to declare results early to coincide with pre-university results of States, said Mr. Ganguly, since evaluation had to be nation-wide. Results for the 12th standard will be declared around the third week of May and for the 10th standard around the fourth week of May, he added.