Govt asks CBSE to review Class 10 results timeline

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s education department on Wednesday requested the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to review its timeline for the Class 10 results as several government school teachers were engaged in Covid duties, or had tested positive for the virus.

Last week, CBSE issued a notification asking schools to evaluate Class 10 students on the basis of their internal assessments and tests conducted through the year, since the board exams were cancelled. On May 4, HT reported how teachers and principals of various Delhi government schools raised concerns, saying it may be difficult to submit the result sheets to the CBSE within the June 5 deadline. The board plans to declare the results on June 20.

“Keeping in view the ongoing situation, including its emotional ramifications, enforcement of lockdown and deployment of teachers for various duties, competent authority of CBSE is requested to kindly review the time schedule of the notification on the policy of tabulation of marks,” additional director, education (exams), Rita Sharma wrote in the letter to CBSE on Wednesday.

Government school authorities said it was “impossible” to select five teachers and two external examiners by May 5 for the results committee, as directed by the board, and follow guidelines such as ensuring that there was no overlap of teachers in the committees of two nearby schools. Along with tabulation of scores, the board also directed schools that if any candidate has not appeared in any of the assessments conducted by the school, it may conduct an offline/ online or a telephonic one-onone assessment. Principals said this would require manpower and offline coordination among teachers, which would put them at risk. Sharma also pointed out that teaching and non-teaching staff at Delhi government schools, including data entry operators and IT assistants, were helping the district administration in various Covid duties. These include “door-to-door survey in hotspots, assistance in contact tracing and testing, enforcing Covid protocols, screening at the airport and in activities related to vaccination”, she said.

“Apart from that, 76 schools of Delhi government are now designated as Covid vaccination centres…,” she added