ICSE Class 9 Syllabus 2028 SUPW and Community Service

ICSE
INDIAN CERTIFICATE OF
SECONDARY EDUCATION
EXAMINATION
YEAR 2028

SUPW
&
COMMUNITY SERVICE

Developed by:
Research, Development and Curriculum Division (RDCD)
CISCE

January 2026
____________________________________________________________________________________________

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School Certificate Examinations. This publication and no part thereof may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed or
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Examinations.

Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)

MISSION STATEMENT

The Council for the Indian School Certificate
Examinations is committed to serving the nation's
children, through high quality educational
endeavours, empowering them to contribute towards
a humane, just and pluralistic society, promoting
introspective living, by creating exciting learning
opportunities, with a commitment to excellence.

ETHOS OF CISCE

Trust and fair play.
Minimum monitoring.
Allowing schools to evolve their own niche.
Catering to the needs of the children.
Giving freedom to experiment with new ideas
and practices.
Diversity and plurality - the basic strength for
evolution of ideas.
Schools to motivate pupils towards the
cultivation of:
Excellence - The Indian and Global
experience.
Values - Spiritual and cultural - to be the bedrock
of the educational experience.
Schools to have an 'Indian Ethos', strong roots in
the national psyche and be sensitive to national
aspirations.

SOCIALLY USEFUL PRODUCTIVE WORK AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

CLASSES IX-X
Emphasis should be placed on work practice and classroom discussions in these classes. A component of
Contemporary Studies may be correlated with SUPW.
Work practice will include one main craft or equivalent service and at least one subsidiary craft or equivalent
service.

MAIN CRAFTS/SERVICES

(i) Health and Hygiene
Growing medical plants; eradication of communicable diseases; paramedical service.

(ii) Food
Agro-industries; kitchen gardening; compost culture; crop and seed production; repair of farm implements;
soil conservation and desert control; horticulture; animal husbandry and dairying; bee keeping; poultry
farming; fish culture; bakery; confectionery; cooking.

(iii) Shelter
Pottery; Masonry work; Workshop practice (mechanical); Workshop practice (electrical); Workshop practice
(electronics); Cane and bamboo work; House-craft; Black smithy; Foundry work; Carpet weaving.

(iv) Clothing
Production of cotton; wool; silk and other fibres; Weaving; Dressmaking; Knitting; Hosiery work;
Embroidery work; Dress designing; Leatherwork.

(v) Cultural and Recreational
Making toys and puppets; Making and repairing musical instruments; Making games material; Printing;
Bookbinding; Making stationery; Photography.

SUBSIDARY CRAFTS/SERVICES

(i) Health and Hygiene
Cleanliness of the neighbourhood, well and pond and the disposal of garbage; construction of toilet facilities
and compost pits; making tooth picks, tooth powder; soap; detergents; disinfectants; first aid boxes;
construction of wastepaper-baskets; dustbins; garbage cans; brooms; brushes; cobweb cleaners; dusters;
mops, etc.; detection of adulteration.

(ii) Food
Distribution of fertilisers and insecticides; processing and preservation of food; hydroponics; mushroom
culture; khandsari, gur and candy making; catering; making jam; jelly, squashes, pickles, bari and papad,
etc.; packing food; marketing.

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(iii) Shelter
Home, village and town-planning.
Lac culture.
Renovation and effecting minor repairs in buildings, fittings, furniture and household articles. Decorating the
home; gardening; surface decoration; interior decoration; construction of decorative pieces; plaster of Paris
work; chalk and candle making; making limestone.

(iv) Clothing
Spinning of different fibres; Dyeing and printing; Repair of garments; Laundry work.

(v) Cultural and Recreational
Stagecraft; making costumes; holding exhibitions.

Further Suggestion on Socially Useful Productive Work:
Given below is an indication of how Socially Useful Productive Work can be combined with the 'sixth subject' to
be offered in the ICSE examination:
Allied Subject Craft - Socially Useful Productive Work
1. Art (i) Pottery work
(ii) Sculpture: any medium
(iii) Weaving: any medium
(iv) Block printing, screen-printing, batik, tie and dye, etc. on any material.
(v) Embroidery.
(vi) Puppet or marionette making.
(vii) Printing from original wood or lino block.
2. Technical Drawing (i) Woodwork or Metal work.
Applications
3. Home Science (i) Laundry Work or Practical Cookery or Care of a House.
4. Cookery (i) Practical Cookery.
5. Fashion Designing (i) Needlework and Dressmaking.
6. Music (a) Indian (i) Vocal, Instrumental, Tabla,
(b) Western (i) Piano or other instrument.

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ASSESSMENT: (CLASSES IX & X)
Evaluation is an important aspect of planning and execution of the Socially Useful Productive Work and
Community Service Programme in Schools. From the beginning of the programme each step needs evaluation.
An illustrative guide to the areas of assessment and weightage to be given is contained in the following paragraphs.

1. Selection of Socially Useful Productive Work and Community Service.
Suggested lists of the Main Crafts/Services and Subsidiary Crafts/ Services have been given in the syllabus
booklet. Candidates will be required to select one main craft and one subsidiary service OR one main service
and one subsidiary craft per year of preparation for the examination, i.e. Class IX and X.

2. Internal Assessment
The Internal Assessments will consist of assessment in (a) Socially Useful Productive Work (b) Community
Service. The work undertaken by the candidates during the two-year preparation period in each will be
assessed and marked out of 50. From these assessments they will be placed in an order of merit list giving
them marks out of a total of 100. The CISCE reserves the right to call for the records of the candidates' work.

3. Socially Useful Productive Work
(i) This will be taken to mean work practice in a main or subsidiary craft. In contrast to community service,
it implies the making of articles of social use or the practice of a skill.
(ii) The areas of assessment of Socially Useful Productive work may be classified as follows:
Marks
(1) Preparation 05
(2) Organisation 10
(3) Skills 20
(4) Research 10
(5) Interest 05
(iii) Preparation: It is important to select a craft which is socially useful and within the candidates' capabilities.
It may be necessary to visit localities where certain crafts are practiced and note details of the processes
or methods involved.
(iv) Organisation: The candidates should be able to explain in writing, the tools, materials and processes
required as well as draw up a timetable/ programme of work.
(v) Skills: The manual skills of the candidates should be assessed regularly and from the finished product(s)
and include the candidates' abilities to follow processes/ methods of the craft.
(vi) Research: This is the candidates' ability to analyse a process or method and suggest/ implement
improvements and also to improvise wherever necessary.
(vii) Interest: This is an assessment of candidates' industriousness, constancy and conscientiousness with
regard to the work undertaken. The candidates should be able to adhere to the timetable/ programme of
work drawn up by them.
(viii) Record Card: This should be kept for each candidate and the assessment of Socially Useful Productive
Work entered in it. A specimen of the record card is given below for guidance.

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(ix) Interpretation of Grades:
Grade Standard
A Very Good
B Good
C Satisfactory
D Fair
E Unsatisfactory (Fail)

NAME OF THE SCHOOL

Internal Assessment Card for Socially Useful Productive Work
Name of the Candidate: ___________________________________________________________________
Craft/Skill: _____________________________________________________________________________
ASSESSMENT RECORD
Date of Areas of Assessment
Assessment
Preparation Organisation Skills Research Interest
Grade Points Grade Points Grade Points Grade Points Grade Points

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4. Community Service
(i) This will be taken to mean work done in the home, school and outside which is beneficial to the
community.
(ii) The areas of assessment for community service may be as under:
Marks
(1) Preparation 05
(2) Organisation 10
(3) Skills 20
(4) Resourcefulness 10
(5) Interest 05
(iii) Preparation: It is important to select a service that will be beneficial to the community. It may be
necessary to form teams or squads and to select a leader.
(iv) Organisation is the knowledge of the tools, materials and methods/process by which the work can be
done, and the ability to draw up a timetable or programme of work.
(v) Skills are the manipulative skills of doing the work. The quality of the candidates' work should be
assessed.
(vi) Resourcefulness is the ability to complete the work in spite of problems and difficulties and to improvise
wherever necessary.
(vii) Interest is the assessment of the candidates' constancy, industriousness and conscientiousness in doing
the work and their abilities to adhere to the timetable or programme drawn up by them.
(viii) A record card on the lines suggested for Socially Useful Productive Work should be kept.
(ix) A practical scheme for day schools is given below:
(a) In the case of day schools, parents should be involved in making their children aware of their
responsibilities in the home and to persons in the area in which they live. They should be encouraged
to render service in the home and to their neighbours. Such service may take the form of helping
parents in cleaning the house, making the beds, assisting in the kitchen, cleaning the backyard,
helping in the garden, visiting the sick, teaching a child or children in the neighbourhood, and so on.
Experiments should be tried in every school in which there are day scholars. Parents should be asked
to give each child a job of work to do which will last between 20 minutes to half-an-hour each day.
(b) A diary should be kept for each child in which the parents enter each day:
• Nature of work;
• Time allotted;
• Remark of the parent;
• Signature of the parent.
Thus, it will be possible for the school to ensure that children do at least three to three-and-half hours
of Socially Useful Productive Work, per week.
(c) The number of hours as far as the Community Service (Social Service) is concerned, in the case of
day scholars, will then be written the home and the neighbourhood and may rightly be termed
'Homework'. The remarks to be entered by the parent should be specified, so that they may be
converted into grades.

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(d) A suggested five points "remarks" scale is given below:
A - Very good
B - Good
C - Satisfactory
D - Fair
E - Unsatisfactory (Fail)
(e) The class teacher should be required to enter the "grades" in a special register against each child. At
the end of the month/term these grades may be converted into points:
Standard Grade
Very Good A
Good B
Satisfactory C
Fair D
Unsatisfactory (Fail) E

5. Submission of SUPW and Community Service Grades
The Head of the School will be responsible for the correct entry of the result of each candidate in terms of
grades A, B, C, D or E based on the following scale and standard:
Grade Standard
A Very Good
B Good
C Satisfactory
D Fair
E Unsatisfactory (Fail)
The grade of each candidate in Socially Useful Productive Work and Community Service for Class X, is to
be submitted online through CISCE’s CAREERS portal by the due date.

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CONTEMPORARY STUDIES (OPTIONAL)
(Recommended to form a component of SUPW)

The aim of the section on Contemporary Studies is to provide to all students a comprehensive appreciation of
the contemporary world and society and enable them to:
1. Understand modern development.
2. Acquire skills that are necessary to withstand the interrelationships in society, politics and natural
environment.
3. Appreciate the constraints and opportunities that enable a social order to evolve.
4. Participate in meaningful, interactive exposure to programmes that provide sensitisation to poverty,
exploitation and injustice.
Note: Pupils are to be provided a general appreciation of the following topics with a view to cultivate and
inculcate values promoting sustainable societal practices.

CLASS IX

1. Environment
Civic Sense, Health and Hygiene
• Types of pollution and effective measures for prevention of pollution.
• Conservation of natural resources.
• Waste products management.
• Respect for laws regulating community living.
• Respect for other’s freedom.
• Concern for public property.
• Need for inculcating hygienic habits.
• Importance of vaccination.

2. Population Education
Family planning, small family norms, gender equality. Female infanticide, abortion laws/ euthanasia.

3. The cultivation of Aesthetics
• Appreciation of art, music, poetry, literature and drama.
• Cultivation of soft sensibilities and promotion of values that enhance appreciation of new living practices.

4. Quality of Life
• Importance of effective use of time; hobbies, interests and importance of group activities.
• Doing the right things and doing things right.
• Cultivation of attitudes that enhance sustainable living practices.
• Striving to achieve excellence.

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5. Culture, ‘Sanskars’ and Values
• Tenets of important religions in India supporting the cultivation of values and sustainable living practice
(Two stories/parables each of the holy books).
• Role of caste and religion in politics with reference to India, Japan and US.
• Prejudice and Stereotyping - stereotyping mechanism, ways to overcome stereotyping.

6. The Role of Family
• Definition of family.
Classification of family: nuclear, extended and joint.
• Changing family values.
Collective impact of values acquired in the family on society.

CLASS X
1. Consolidating Nationhood
• Appreciation of the Fundamental Duties and Rights as provided in the Constitution.
• Citizen’s role in nation building.
• Role of taxes - direct and indirect.
• Concerns related to lack of participation in the national processes such as elections.
• Awareness of consumer rights in order to avoid exploitation.

2. The Role of Media
• Press, film and television.
• Media as a vehicle of social change.
• Impact of media on young people.
• Press reporting: biases & censorship.
• Feasibility of restrictions.
• Sensationalisation of news, exploitative practices.
• Press Council – its structure and role.

3. Cultural Diversity - India
• Study of some major tribes of India and a broad understanding of their social beliefs and practices.
• The need for sustaining cultural diversity.

4. India and the world
• India's positioning with respect to other countries.
• Partnerships between the countries of Asia and the Pacific and their influences on India and its people.

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5. Globalisation
• Understanding of globalization as a worldwide aspiration linking humane values.
• Modernism and Internationalism.
• Global Broadcasting and journalism, role of news agencies, effects of the global reach of broadcasting,
risk to cultural values due to bombardment by foreign-based media.

6. Concerns today
• Nuclear disarmament – CTBT.
• Human rights, Gia hypothesis, Malthus and Darwinism.
• Advantages and disadvantages to the consumer of a competitive market.
• Dehumanization due to technological advances.
• Advertising and its impact.
• Impact of society moving towards ‘quick fix’ solutions leading to corrupt practices.
• Underemployment and Unemployment.
• The ethical and moral impact of the Internet.

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