Delaying board exams till August will hamper college admissions, plans to study abroad, Principals

CBSE Class 12 exams 2021, entrance exams conducted by NTA and dates of other entrance exams for college admissions across the country are being discussed in the high-level meeting. Concerned ministers will listen to all stake holders and will submit the minutes of the meeting with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Later Mr Modi will take the final call on all the examinations. The meeting is being chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar are attending the meeting. Union minister of education Ramesh Pokhriyal is likely to share his views once the meeting gets over.

The possible options that can be explored are - conducting pen and paper mode exams for only major subjects, conducting all exams in two phases planned as per the Covid-19 situation in different states or districts, or cancelling the exams and announcing results as per an alternative assessment scheme. While a large section of students and parents have been demanding that the exams be cancelled, school principals have varied views on the possible options that can be explored. Digital divide should to be kept in mind before deciding on an alternative mode of assessment.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi wrote on Twitter: "Students studying for the CBSE 12th grade examinations have been sharing their concerns about these exams being held during the second wave of Covid - 19 pandemic. Their health and safety MATTERS. Why are we not learning our lessons? Gatherings in closed spaces promote the spread of Covid. This wave has shown that children are vulnerable to new strains. In any case expecting children who are already under immense pressure to sit for their exams wearing all sorts of protective gear for hours at a stretch day after day is insensitive and unfair. Many of them are likely to have family members who are down with Covid too. They are already dealing with enough stress. I fail to understand the reasoning behind holding these exams, not to mention having stretched this decision out for months. I have said this before and am repeating it again. The mental health of children is as important as their physical well being. It’s about time our education system incorporates sensitivity towards children’s well being and starts taking these issues seriously."

In a letter to the states and UTs, the education minister has said that his ministry's Department of School Education and the CBSE were exploring options regarding the conduct of the examinations, keeping in mind the safety and security of both students and teachers. "The Department of Higher Education is also deliberating upon the finalisation of the dates of examinations for institutions of higher learning. Covid-19 pandemic has affected various areas including the education sector, particularly the board exams and entrance exams," the letter noted. "As the conduct of Class 12 examinations impacts upon state board exams and other entrance exams across the country, and to reduce uncertainty among students, it is desirable that a considered decision based on inputs of different state governments and UT administrations is taken about Class 12 examinations in the interest of all the students across the country," the letter said.

The ministerial meeting which is being chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh in the presence of education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and others. Pending entrance tests like the JEE (Main) and NEET-UG as well the the proposal for the common entrance test for universities/ college admissions would also be discussed in the meeting. Along with the Class XII exams, JEE (Main) and scores of other exams were postponed due to surge in Covid cases in April. NEET-UG has been scheduled for August 1, but NTA is yet to start the registration process. According to NTA sources, the agency was ready with the online application process but has put it on hold due to the uncertainties. If situation improves, NTA would start the registration process from July 1.

Hours before the crucial high-level meetings of education ministers and secretaries from States/ UTs with union defence, education, women and child and I&B ministers, students took to Twitter to trend #CBSE and #CancelExamsSaveStudents questioning the logic behind conducting the exams in “major subjects” on Sunday morning. While #cancelboardexams which was trending from Saturday, on Sunday following media reports of CBSE’s plan to either conduct the Class XII Board exams in major subjects in the usual format or in a shorter format students started tweeting questioning the Board. Along with #cancelboardexams, #CancelExamsSaveStudents and #CBSE was trending.

Union ministers Smriti Irani and Prakash Javadekar besides Education ministers and secretaries from all states and union territories are also expected to attend the meeting.

Sisodia, who is also Delhi's Education Minister, took the feedback of the students and teachers about possible options during the interactions. Alternative assessment options, including taking into account marks of Class 10 and pre-board exams and internal exams, were among the suggestions received during the interactions. The Ministry of Education has invited suggestions from various stakeholders that will be taken up at the meeting scheduled to be chaired by Union Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday.

"Keeping in mind the severity of the second wave of the pandemic and the emergence of new variants like black fungus etc., many students, teachers and their families are apprehensive about holding the Class XII board exams. They feel that the exam centers might become super spreaders. They have recommended that the most appropriate decision with regard to Class XII board exams would be to completely cancel them," Sisodia said.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday held interactions with school principals, teachers and students to deliberate on options that can be explored by the central government to arrive at a decision regarding pending Class 12 board exams. The two virtual interactions by Sisodia came a day before the Ministry of Education's crucial meeting on Sunday to decide on fate of board exams which were postponed in view of the second wave of Covid-19

Both the government-run and private school administrations in the national capital have recommended that the Class XII board exams (CBSE board) should be canceled in view of the severe pandemic situation. Keeping in mind the severity of the second wave of the pandemic and the emergence of new variants like black fungus etc., many students, teachers and their families are apprehensive about holding the Class XII board exams.

This may be another option to conduct the exams for the major subjects in a shorter format of 90 minutes with short answers and the centres would be the home schools of candidates.

CBSE would take a final call on holding the Class 12th Board exams in the first week of June. A senior CBSE official said a final call would be taken in the first week of June after reviewing the situation and based on inputs from the ministry of education.

The CBSE has not taken any decision on how the major subjects will be decided by the Board. No decisions have been reached yet as the definition of major subject is a tricky one. For example, for a student with one vocational subject in the five compulsory ones, that would be a major subject.

A CBSE source said, "The Board has been hlding discussion on Class XII exams which were postponed in APril due to the pandemic. "However, since the situnation is still far from norma, the Board is mulling various options which include condting the exams for the major subjects as well as cancellation.

The Board of Secondary Education, Assam (Seba) has said it was ready to conduct the Class X exams within 15 days from the day the Covid situation returns to “normalcy”. This was assured to an All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu) delegation by the senior officials of Seba during a meeting held in the city on Saturday.