Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting on the upcoming CBSE Board exams today, following which the Education Ministry has decided to defer the Class 12 exam and canceled the Class 10 Board exam.
“The Class Xth Board results will be prepared based on an objective criterion to be developed by the Board. Any candidate who is not satisfied with the marks allocated to him/her on this basis will be given an opportunity to sit in an exam as and when the conditions are conducive to hold the exams,” the Ministry said in a press release.
For the Class 12 board exams, the government would review the situation on June 1 to decide fresh dates and make an announcement at least two weeks before the exam.
Several students, academicians, and politicians have demanded board exams’ cancelation amid growing COVID-19 cases across the country.
Earlier various CBSE board exam students had called to cancel the papers owing to rising COVID-19 cases across the states. Various state heads also supported the call to cancel both CBSE and state board exams.
Over 2 lakh students have signed an online petition demanding the cancelation of board exams and the hashtag “cancelboardexams” on microblogging site Twitter.
Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia have also appealed to the Centre to cancel the exams saying the examination centers can become super spreaders and alternative assessment methods need to be explored.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had urged the Union Education Minister to intervene and direct the board to reconsider its decision.
The Shiv Sena in Maharashtra had also written to the education ministry, requesting the government to develop a national consensus and possibly reschedule Class 10 and 12 CBSE and other board exams. Maharashtra Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad postponed SSC (Class 10) and HSC (Class 12) exams conducted by the state board.
However, officials in the Ministry have clarified that cancellation or conducting online examinations for Class 12 students is not an option. “CBSE is a national Board with students spread across the country. It’s not possible to conduct the exam online at short notice. How will the student familiarize themselves with the online pattern so quickly?” an official said.
The announcement comes in the wake of a spike in coronavirus cases across the country and a growing chorus of student voices and state governments demanding postponement of the Board exams.
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