Schools kick off prep as parents, students welcome exam schedule
NEW DELHI: With the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) releasing the 2021 exam time table for classes 10 and 12 on Tuesday, almost three months in advance, principals and teachers across the national capital said it was a welcome step as students can now prepare well for exams. The board also announced that class 12 students will have exams in two shifts – morning and afternoon.
While CBSE had announced in December that exams would be conducted between May and June 2021, on Tuesday it released the date sheet for the board examinations, which would begin on May 4 for both Class 10 and 12 students. While exams of Class 10 students will end on June 7, those of Class 12 students will end on June 11.
Of the total 2,168 schools in
Delhi, a majority is affiliated to the CBSE and board exams for classes 10 and 12 are usually held in February. Due to the pandemic and the subsequent shift to online education, the board had also reduced the syllabus for the academic year by 30%.
Manju Sethi, principal of Bluebells School International in Kailash Colony, said conducting exams in two shifts won’t be an issue. “As per the notification by the CBSE, exams in the second shift are of subjects not offered to students in CBSE schools abroad. That means these will be subjects having fewer enrolments. It won’t be an issue for schools to conduct exams for fewer students in the second shift. We won’t require more than three or four classrooms for that and we can easily sanitise and ready them before students arrive,” she said.
Ameeta Wattal, principal of Springdales, Pusa Road, also said it was a balanced date sheet. “For instance, Class 12 students will appear for their English exam on May 4 and then get a week to prepare for the next major elective paper. In between, they have music and vocational subjects. Since the board has introduced an afternoon shift, schools will take measures so that students are able to write their papers comfortably while wearing masks.”
Most students were happy with the schedule. “Commerce students have ample time between major subjects and we are happy with the date sheet. Also, unlike previous years when the date sheet was announced less than two months before exams, this time we have nearly three months in hand. We know how much time there is between papers so we can devise a study routine accordingly,” said Twisha Kacker, 18, a class 12 student of The Indian School.
Sukhbir Singh Yadav, principal of Sarvodaya Vidyalaya Rohini, Sector 3, said since the Delhi government had allowed class 10 and 12 students to return to schools for preparations, teachers can plan the lessons accordingly and as per the needs of students.
“The class 10 date sheet has days between major subjects. Same is the case with class 12 students. However, for certain subject combinations, there are no gaps. For instance, students who have opted for both biology and commerce, there would be no gap day,” he said.
Yadav also said since exams would be held during peak summer in Delhi, the timings could have been different. “Students will be wearing masks; so it would have been better if the morning shift started at 9am instead of 10.30am and the afternoon shift at 3pm instead of 2.30pm,” he said.