Odisha Prepares Exam Module For Classes V & VIII To Test Concept Clarity & Critical Thinking

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government is preparing to conduct annual exams for Classes V and VIII starting next year, focusing on evaluating students’ conceptual understanding, critical thinking, and practical application of knowledge.

The School and Mass Education (SME) department has issued guidelines for holding the annual examinations for both the grades, focussing on internal assessments and the final exam.

For Class V, 60% of marks will come from internal assessments and 40% from annual exams, which include an oral test (10 marks) and a written test (40 marks). Similarly for Class VIII, marks are split equally between internal assessments and a written annual exam (50 marks). Both grades will be assessed for knowledge (15 marks), subject understanding (20 marks), and real-world application (15 marks), with 30% easy, 40% moderate, and 30% difficult questions.

The new policy, announced in July 2025, will take effect from the 2025-26 academic session, with exams in February and results by late March. A nine-member state-level steering committee, led by the SME department’s commissioner-cum-secretary, will oversee the process, supported by district and block-level committees.

Students need to score 30% to be promoted to the next class; those who fail will receive 4–6 weeks of remedial coaching with 2–3 hours of focused classes before a supplementary exam, in which internal assessment will not be considered.

Notably, the state did away with the ‘no detention’ policy, mandated by the Right to Education (RTE) Act of 2009, in December 2024.