NEW DELHI - With an aim to reform the examination system and de-traumatise the education, the government is planning to make the Class 10 exams “optional”, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said Thursday.

We will reform the examination system and Class 10 examination will be optional, Sibal told reporters here while outlining his 100-day plans for the education sector.

Schools will evolve a system of assessment, because of the marking system there is lot of pressure on children, parents, especially mother, he said.

I have seen children committing suicide due to poor marks. I don’t think that children in our country should study in pressure,” Sibal said.

Education cannot be traumatic for parents and children. So we will introduce a system of replacement of marks by grades in schools affiliated to CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) for the secondary classes of ninth and tenth, said Sibal, adding he had himself gone through the trauma.

He said the ultimate aim of the board examination for a student is to get admission in university so they want to evolve a single exam system.

We will introduce a single board examination with consensus so that children can give one exam and decide which school or university they want to go, he added.

He said the biggest challenge the country faces at present is providing quality education to the young.

Keeping this in mind, he said their focus is threefold - “expansion, inclusion and excellence, which in simple terms access, equity and quality”.