New Delhi: With the number of Covid-19 cases continuing to rise in India, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) could take a decision to not hold the pending Class 12 board examinations in July. There is consensus on this within the government, ThePrint has learnt.
A final decision in this regard would be communicated soon, sources said.
The board, meanwhile, told the Supreme Court Tuesday that a decision on whether or not to hold this year’s board exams for Class 12 would be taken by Wednesday evening.
The top court is hearing a petition that has sought scrapping of the exams in light of the pandemic, and the board is to respond to it Thursday.
Class 12 marks are crucial for admission to colleges and are taken into account for competitive exams as well.
While concerns remain about holding the exams, sources in the government said scrapping them would create another challenge — how, otherwise, can Class 12 students be evaluated?
According to sources, the board discussed this at a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Human Resource Development Monday.
Board officials, it is learnt, said at the meeting that it will be difficult to conduct an evaluation on the basis of internal assessment as many students at that level pay more attention to entrance exam preparations and less to internal tests. They noted that students looking to take professional exams often approach the school curriculum with an intention to solely ace the boards.
It was also discussed if the exams could be conducted at a later stage.
The board is likely to raise its concerns before the Supreme Court when the matter comes up for hearing Thursday.
The matter was supposed to be heard Tuesday but the solicitor general, who appeared for the CBSE and the central government, told the court Monday that the “decision-making process is at an advanced stage and would be finalised by Thursday”.
Emails for an official comment on the matter were sent to the HRD Ministry’s PIB unit and CBSE official spokesperson Rama Sharma and and a response from both is awaited.
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‘There is a consensus’
Schools across India have been shut since mid-March on account of the Covid-19 lockdown. While the Class 10 exams were completed in all of India except Northeast Delhi, where the riots in late February led to a postponement, the Class 12 exam schedule remained pending when the lockdown started.
A source told ThePrint that there is a consensus in the government to not hold the remaining Class 12 exams this year.
“There is a consensus to not hold the exams in July, looking at the rising number of coronavirus cases, especially in Delhi and Mumbai,” the source said. “However, evaluation on the basis of internals is tricky.”
Stating that it will be a difficult decision to evaluate Class 12 students based on internal assessment, the source added, “Many students in Class 12 are busy preparing for competitive exams throughout the year and hence are unable to perform well in the internals, they mostly focus on a one-time performance in final exams. In such a situation, it will be unfair to those students to evaluate them without exam.”
Another source said, “Evaluation of Class 10 students is still workable but for Class 12 students, it’s a lot difficult. We will express these concerns in front of the court and take a call based on the court order.”
Any decision on alternative evaluation mechanisms will be taken after the Supreme Court’s order Thursday.
In a notification released in May, the CBSE had announced that the pending Class 10 (northeast Delhi) and 12 board exams for 29 subjects will be held between 1 and 15 July.
Even as the CBSE came up with elaborate social-distancing guidelines for exam centres, including wearing masks at all times and enough distance between two seats, there was opposition to the idea of conducting exams during a pandemic.
Earlier this month, four parents moved the Supreme Court, urging it to issue directions to the CBSE to scrap the exams. The petitioners said maintaining safety standards at exam centres would not be possible, and it would thus not be advisable to risk children’s health.
“Ensuring proper cleanliness and safety standards as prescribed by the concerned government in Covid-19 situation in those 15,000 exam centres spreading over length and breadth of the country including rural sectors would not only be risking health and life of children but also would be an exercise in futility and an eyewash,” the petition read.
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