Gujarat Abolishes Semester System From Class 9th To 12th

Gandhinagar: The Gujarat government announced abolition of the semester system from standard 9th to 12th that was introduced in 2011.

Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama made the announcement. “We have received several representations from parents, educational institutes and experts against the semester system in standard 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. So we have taken the decision to abolish it. Now annual exams for standard 10th and 12th will be conducted by the Gujarat State Higher Secondary Board,” said the release, quoting Chudasama.

The minister also said the science stream students of standard 12th will be given supplementary books prepared by an experts’ committee this year so as to help them prepare for next year’s National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

Health Minister Nitin Patel said that standard 12th state board syllabus would be brought on par with CBSE.

“As per the Supreme Court's directive, NEET will be compulsory from the next year. We are preparing std 12th science syllabus in accordance with CBSE syllabus so that our students do not face any problem while appearing for NEET. A formal announcement about change in syllabus will be made soon by the education department,” Patel said. “Gujarat government has also sent a proposal to the Centre about allowing state students to write NEET in Gujarati,” he added.

The decision was implemented with immediate effect as the new academic session commenced Monday. The government had decided to drop the semester system in June 2015, but the announcement was pending as “decision-makers in Delhi” had not approved it. When the semester system was brought in June 2011, it was promoted as a ‘game-changer’. However, it was dropped following representations by education institutions and parents, the release added.

The announcement came days after Supreme Court’s order to make NEET mandatory for all state.