Gujarat abolishes semester system from class 9th to 12th

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government on Monday announced an 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 std 12th will be given supplementary books prepared by an experts' committee this year so as to help them prepare for next year's NEET.

Health Minister Nitin Patel said that std 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 a change in the syllabus will be made soon by the education department," Patel said.

"The Gujarat government has also sent a proposal to the Centre about allowing state students to write NEET in Gujarati," he added.