Call on Class 12 exam by June 1 after state inputs

SEVERAL STATES HAVE RAISED THE DEMAND FOR VACCINATING STUDENTS AND TEACHERS BEFORE CONDUCTING THE BOARD EXAMS, OFFICIALS SAID

A high-level meeting called by the Union ministry of education on Sunday to discuss the feasibility of conducting CBSE Class 12 exams remained inconclusive, even as officials said there was “broad consensus” that the test must be held for a limited number of subjects and with a shorter duration after the Covid-19 situation comes under control.

Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” said a decision on the matter was likely to be taken by June 1.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has proposed to conduct exams between July and August, tentatively, and results may be announced in September, an official with knowledge of the matter said. Around 1,400,000 students are scheduled to appear in CBSE Class 12 exams this year.

At least two states, Maharashtra and Delhi, were of the opinion at the meeting that the exams should not be conducted amid the pandemic. Several states also raised the demand for vaccinating students and teachers before conducting the exams, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Centre has asked states to submit their detailed suggestions on the matter by Tuesday.

The virtual meeting was convened to decide on the Class 12 board exams and subsequent entrance examinations that were postponed earlier due to the second wave of Covid-19 across the country.

Pokhriyal said that an “informed” and “collaborative” decision will be taken on Class 12 exams at the earliest. During the meeting, he also discussed “how important Class 12 exams are to decide the future of students”.

“The meeting was extremely fruitful as we received immensely valuable suggestions. I have requested the state governments to send me their detailed suggestions by May 25. I am confident we will be able to arrive at an informed, collaborative decision regarding the exams and remove the uncertainty among students’ and parent’s minds by informing them

of our final decision at the earliest. I want to reiterate that both students’ and teachers’ safety, security, and future are supremely important to us,” he tweeted.

The education ministry issued a statement that said: “Various options regarding the methodology, process, duration and timings of the exams were discussed. While a broad consensus was there, however, it was decided that States and UTs may like to further examine the matter and send their feedback in writing by the 25th of May, 2021.”

The meeting was chaired by Union defence minister Rajnath Singh and attended by several other ministers including Pokhriyal, minister of women and child development Smriti Irani, and information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar. CBSE officials, education ministers of all states, education secretaries, and chairpersons of the state examination boards were also present at the meeting.

During the meeting, two options proposed by CBSE for conducting Class 12 exams were discussed at length. In the first option, the examination for major subjects may be conducted at the “designated examination centres and in the existing format” like previous years, and for the minor subjects, “marks can be calculated as per the assessment scheme based on the performance in the major subjects.”

Nineteen of the 174 subjects offered to Class 12 students are considered major subjects by CBSE. “Conducting exams in this mode will only be possible if the board has three months and another 45 days for compartment exams,” according to the document.

The second option involves multiple changes, including conducting exams at schools where the students are enrolled, reducing the duration of examination, and switching to only multiple choice and short answer type questions. The process, as per the second proposal, can be completed in 45 days and results can be declared within 15 days of completion of the exams.

According to the tentative timeline provided by CBSE, under the first option, the preexam activities may take place from July 1 to July 31 and the exams will be held from August 1 to August 20. The tentative result date will be September

20.

Under the second option, the pre-exam activities will tentatively take place between July 10 and July 15. The first phase of the examination will be held between July 15 and August 1, while the second phase will take place between August 5 and August 26. The tentative date for the result will be September

5. A senior official who attended the meeting said that at least eight states, including Delhi and Maharashtra, demanded vaccination for children and teachers before exams are conducted. “Majority of the states suggested that the exams could be conducted for only the main subjects in shorter duration as suggested by the CBSE in its option B… The ministry will compile all the suggestions received by the states and UTs and then a final call will be taken after consulting with the higher authorities,” the official said.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also attended the meeting, said his government was not in favour of conducting exams amid the pandemic. “The consensus of the entire education community is that conducting exams is important but not by putting our students and teachers at risk. As a guardian of the State, Delhi Government is taking a stand to keep the safety and security of our students as the first and most important priority. Until we are able to vaccinate our students, we should not even think of administering the 12th Board Exams,” Sisodia said.

Maharashtra education minister Varsha Gaikwad said: “Keeping in mind the ongoing pandemic situation ..., the option of a ‘no-examination route’ for class 12th students should be actively examined...Our focus should now be in evolving a uniform assessment policy, vaccination of all teachers & eligible students, and safe resumption of schools, colleges campuses for the next academic year.”

Among the states that were in favour of conducting the exams were Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Bihar. Punjab school education minister Vijay Inder Singla suggested that the exams of only three elective subjects be held. “If the education boards conduct examinations for elective subjects, it will be easy to maintain social distancing and other mandatory protocols in view of the pandemic,” he said.

Officials in the Bihar education board suggested that exams should be conducted in the online mode.

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma on Sunday assured the Union education minister that their government was fully prepared to conduct the CBSE Class 12 examinations. “Since only a few thousands appear in the CBSE examination from Uttar Pradesh, there will be no problem in conducting the examination the manner in which the CBSE board wants.”

Many students have been running social media campaigns demanding the cancellation of Class 12 exams amid the pandemic. A plea has also been filed in the Supreme Court asking for directions to the Centre, CBSE, and the CISCE to cancel the Class 12 examinations.