Not consulted about new exam dates: Sisodia
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I don’t think it’s a good idea. I had already suggested that the MHRD cancel the exams. It’s unfortunate that they have not even consulted us.
nNEW DELHI: While the Union ministry of human resources development (HRD) on Friday announced that the pending Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) class 10 and 12 examinations would be conducted between July 1 and July 15, Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia said the state government was not consulted before the dates were announced though Delhi students have the most papers pending across the country.
Delhi earlier requested the HRD ministry to cancel the remaining Class 10 and 12 exams, saying it was unfeasible to conduct them under the prevailing circumstances. Sisodia also asked the ministry to pass students on the basis of their marks in internal examinations.
Schools across the country have been shut since the end of March, owing to the nationwide lockdown in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). All schools in the national capital were shut even earlier, from March 19.
After HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal’s announced the new dates on Friday, Sisodia told HT, “I don’t think it’s a good idea. I had already suggested that the MHRD cancel the exams. It’s unfortunate that they have not even consulted us before taking a decision.”
The maximum number of pending papers will be held in northeast Delhi, where exams were curtailed due to the communal riots in the last week of
MANISH SISODIA, deputy CM and education minister, Delhi
February. Exams for the entire country were postponed on March 19, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
While the exams for 12 subjects of class 12 will be held across the country, the exams for class 10 will be held only in northeast Delhi.
Overall, the CBSE will conduct 29 exams.
A Union government official said that while the board and HRD ministry are keen that exams be held, the situation is an evolving one and will continue to be monitored.
Significantly, while the HRD ministry and CBSE are hoping to get the exams conducted in July, there have been studies which point out that COVID-19 may not thaw completely by that time.
Sisodia, however, said that AIIMS Delhi director Dr Randeep Guleria had recently suggested there can be a possible peak in the Covid-19 curve in the city in June and July. “It’s still difficult to ascertain that what the situation in June and July will be,” he said.
Meanwhile, principals of schools said that at least there is a clarity about the exams. “It’s a relief for students as well as for us. The kind of uncertainty we had in mind has gone. However, the CBSE has to come up with proper plan to conduct exams taking all precautions,” said Jyoti Arora, principal of Mount Abu School in Rohini. The school is also a CBSE examination centre.
Arsh Malik, a class 12 student at a government school in northeast Delhi’s Yamuna Vihar, said, “We were not feeling like studying till now because there was no clarity over dates. Now at least we can study with focus.”
Many parents, however, expressed concerns over the move. “It’s going to be very risky to send our children for exams in the prevailing situation. We just hope things get better by July. There is already speculation of the peak in Covid-19 cases in July in Delhi,” said Mahima Khurana, mother of a class 12 student.