No CBSE re-exams for UAE students
TEACHERS, STUDENTS EXPRESS RELIEF WITH DECISION NOT TO HOLD RE-EXAMS ABROAD
Indian students in the UAE heaved a collective sigh of relief yesterday after being exempted from re-examination in grade 10 mathematics and grade 12 economics papers.
India’s Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had announced a retest of the two papers earlier this week following reports of a leak.
Addressing media in New Delhi yesterday, India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development, announced that the re-exam for grade 12 students would be held on April 25.
A decision on the re-exam for grade 10 students will be taken 15 days, the ministry said, and if required will only be held in the states of Delhi and Haryana. CBSE students outside India will not have to appear for any re-exam.
In the UAE, the decision impacts 8,474 students of Grade 10 and about 2,713 students of Grade 12 who chose economics as their elective subject.
Talk of a re-exam had sent wave of shock in the UAE student and teacher communities as most Grade 12 students have hardly any time to prepare for undergraduate entrance examinations that take place for engineering and medicine especially in India.
Gulf News learnt that considerable representation efforts made by schools in the Gulf region led to the decision.
‘Heartening news’
Dr Ashok Kumar, CEO of Indian High School, a leading CBSE schools in Dubai, welcomed the news. “This is very heartening news for both students and teachers and will lift the pall of gloom that had set over our students who were facing the prospect of giving a drop to entrance examinations for undergraduate admissions as a re-exam meant taking away precious time from their other schedules,” he said.
Samuel Mathew, grade 10 head boy at Indian High School, said: “The re-exam in mathematics for grade 10 was personally affecting me. In the UAE, all grade 10 students get virtually no vacation as we start grade 11 a week after board exams. This decision was worrisome as it meant we would be in grade 11 juggling those studies and at the same time preparing for the mathematics exam.”
Shraddha Menon, a grade 10 student, was elated that UAE students were exempted.
“We are happy as we worked very hard and there was absolutely no question of cheating or dishonesty. But in principle, if these papers were leaked on social media, how is it that only students of Haryana and Delhi have to suffer? It should be either all have to appear or none,” she said.
Teachers relieved
Abraham Manohar, head of the senior section at Indian High School, said: “It is a great relief as we as teachers can now focus on the new class. Otherwise, this decision would have upset our academic calendar.”
For grade 12 students who are appearing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) in India on April 8 for admissions to premium undergraduate courses, this is a great relief.
Abhay M., a grade 11 science student, is travelling to India on Monday. “I was to go for my JEE coaching last week to India but had to postpone it. I am happy I will get a few days of stress-free preparation before April 8,” he said.
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