AP Inter board proposes to discontinue first-year board exams, introduces major reforms

Amaravati: The Board of Intermediate Education of Andhra Pradesh (BIEAP) has proposed discontinuing the Intermediate first-year board exams from next year. The board has decided to focus solely on second-year exams to reduce academic pressure on students. However, the inter 1st year exam will be conducted internally by the junior colleges.

This would be one of the significant decisions taken by the Andhra Pradesh Education Department, aimed to enhance educational standards and reduce academic stress for the students. On Wednesday, Kritika Shukla, the secretary of the Intermediate Board, announced several proposals related to these reforms during a media conference.

Board invites suggestions for making changes to Inter education

“Except for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, no other States have board exams for Intermediate first-year students. Even the educational policymakers and the national curriculum framework have suggested the removal of first-year exams to reduce stress for students,” she said.

"The inter 1st year exam will be conducted internally by the junior colleges based on the syllabus and blueprint given by the BIE, while the AP Inter 2nd year board examinations will be conducted by BIE based on Inter 2nd year syllabus," said Kritika Shukla.

She mentioned that the board is inviting suggestions from students, parents and educators regarding the changes to intermediate education. The suggestions or objections can be sent by January 26 to biereforms@gmail.com.

What are the main reforms proposed?

1. Inter first-year exams will be conducted internally by the junior colleges based on the syllabus and blueprint given by the BIE.

2. Inter second-year board examinations will be conducted by BIE based on the year’s syllabus.

3. Revision of syllabus and textbooks which has not happened for the past 10 years.

4. Change of syllabus for first Intermediate students and new subject combinations.

5. While English remains the first language, the second language will be elective with 23 subjects from which students can make a choice.

6. Introduction of internal marks. For example, if the theory is for 80 marks, 20 marks will be for project work. Similarly, for MPC it will be 380 marks for theory and 120 marks for practicals. For BiPc, it will be 370 marks for theory and 130 marks for practicals.

Here are some of the reasons the Inter board has considered making reforms:

1. Except for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, no other prominent State is conducting board exams for Inter first-year.

2. Most of the colleges/universities consider only Inter second-year Board exams as qualifying criteria for admissions. Inter first-year exams results are not taken into consideration.

3. The reform will alleviate the pressure of board exams on students enabling students to concentrate on building a strong conceptual foundation in Inter first year which is crucial for the advanced topics in the second year.

4. The proposal will enhance students’ performance and readiness for competitive exams like JEE, NEET and others.

5. The changes to the Inter board will achieve equivalence with other boards, including CBSE and other State Boards.

Inter first-year will adopt the NCERT syllabus

“There have been no reforms in Inter education for many years. Starting with the 2025-26 academic year, the first-year Intermediate curriculum will adopt the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) syllabus. This transition aims to bring the State’s educational framework in line with national standards. Additionally, BIEAP plans to introduce updates to textbooks and syllabi that have remained unchanged for several years, ensuring they meet current academic and competitive examination requirements,” said Kritika Shukla.