‘Decision on 12th exams will be taken on 1st June’

‘Decision on 12th exams will be taken on 1st June’

Ramesh Pokhriyal

15.04.2021

I would like to thank the honourable Prime Minister for calling the high-level meeting regarding the conduct of board examinations. At the onset of the meeting he has given a clear vision and reiterated that “the well being of the students has to be the top priority for the government”. He also stated that “the Centre would keep in mind the best interests of the students and ensure that their health is taken care of at the same time their academic interests are not harmed”.

His directions and vision made us take the decision to cancel the tenth class board exams and postpone the 12th class exams. The decision regarding the 12th exams will be taken on 1st June after reviewing the situation. I am very sure that this will give clarity to the students.

Every year almost 30 lakh students write the board examinations of CBSE. To be precise this year there are 21,50,761 and 14,30,247 students who were to appear in the Class X and Class XII exams respectively. CBSE, in normal circumstances, schedules Board exams for Classes X & XII from 15th February to the first week of April. The Board exams-2020 were disrupted due to the pandemic and had to be rescheduled.

In the current year, to accommodate for the loss in learning time and closure of schools, the Board exams 2021 were scheduled from 4th May to 14th June, instead of mid-Feb as was done normally. This announcement was made on 31.12.2020. The trend in Covid cases was also going down when the exam schedule was announced.

However, in the recent few weeks, the downward trend in Covid cases has reversed and the number of new cases daily has started increasing. This situation has given rise to concerns and apprehensions in the minds of students/parents/teachers about the conduct of examination in a safe manner as well as disruptions that may arise due to restrictions that may be imposed from time to time.

CBSE has made arrangements for the conduct of the exams from May 4th, however in view of the rising number of cases, an assessment of the situation in terms of a conducive and safe environment for conducting the exams was done in an objective manner.

Full interview on www.toi.in