PANAJI
The Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBSHSE) is considering introducing 10 per cent competency-based marks for students appearing in the Class X Board examination in 2027, while reducing the weightage assigned to long-answer questions.
The move follows the Board’s initial rollout of competency-based questions (CBQs) in the recently concluded Class X examination, where such questions, covering all ten subjects, carried a weightage of three to four marks per paper.
“This was the very first time that we introduced such questions comprising assertion and reasoning formats. The competency level was kept on the lower side. Despite that, the performance of students across subjects remained average,” GBSHSE chairman Bhagirath Shetye told The Goan.
Shetye acknowledged that the new format posed challenges for students. “It was the first year, and such questions require time to think and work out answers. The performance was neither very good nor very poor. There is definite scope for improvement,” he said.
He added that the Board plans to gradually increase both the weightage and difficulty level of competency-based questions. “From the coming year, we intend to introduce at least 10 per cent CBQ marks in each subject, which would translate to around seven to eight marks per paper. Going forward, depending on the response, the competency component could be scaled up to 50 per cent in the near future,” Shetye said.
Competency-based questions are designed to test understanding and application rather than rote memorisation. These include case-based, assertion-reason, and source-based formats aimed at promoting higher-order thinking skills among students.
The 2026 Class X examination, the first batch after the implementation of the National Education Policy recorded an overall pass percentage of 94.51 per cent. While this marked a slight dip from 95.3 per cent in 2025, the Board maintained that the quality of results had improved.
“When we speak about quality, we look at the number of students scoring 60 per cent and above in subjects like Mathematics, Science, and English. Compared to previous years, the performance bands in these subjects have improved significantly,” Shetye said.
In terms of top scores, one student secured 100 per cent in standard Mathematics, while two students achieved perfect scores in basic Mathematics. As many as 15 students scored 100 marks in Science, while the highest score in English stood at 98. More than 95 per cent of students successfully cleared all four core subjects, reflecting a strong overall performance despite the introduction of new assessment methods.
