New Delhi: The pending Class 10 and 12 board exams will likely be held May-end if the Covid-19 lockdown ends on schedule, ThePrint has learnt.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), India’s largest board, has apprised schools of a tentative timeline that will be followed if the lockdown isn’t extended beyond 3 May, the board said.
According to this timeline, four days after the lockdown is lifted, the CBSE will start evaluating the answer sheets for the exams that were held.
“If the lockdown ends by 3 May, we will start the evaluation process four days after that, and then release the date-sheet for the pending board exams for classes 10 and 12 after 10 days,” said CBSE exam controller Sanyam Bhardwaj.
The information was conveyed to principals of schools across the country through video calls Wednesday. The principals were also told to be ready for an end-of-May date for the remaining exams, subject to a go-ahead from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the official said.
“Because of the lockdown in the country, everything will have to happen with the MHA’s permission,” Bhardwaj added. “If the MHA grants permission and the lockdown is lifted by 3 May, we will start mobilising our resources and get done with the evaluation and pending exams. In the scenario that the lockdown is not lifted on May 3, we will have to wait for the next date,” he said.
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‘Hoping situation eases after summer break’
The social-distancing rules that began to be implemented in March to check the spread of Covid-19 forced the CBSE to halt Class 10 and 12 board exams midway as schools and colleges around the country shut down.
In April, the board decided that exams will only be held in 29 of the over 50 subjects whose assessment was affected. However, conducting the limited number of exams has also become a challenge for the board on account of the extended lockdown, which was earlier supposed to end 14 April.
Meanwhile, evaluation of the exams that were held remains stuck too.
The CBSE as well as the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) have been busy trying to figure out ways to minimise the impact of the lockdown on studies.
Speaking to ThePrint, CBSE officials said they would have to increase the number of evaluators this year in order to get the results out on time.
One of the CBSE officials added that they were hoping the situation eases by the time the annual summer break — which generally lasts from May through June — concludes. With schools likely to stay closed until at least 3 May, many institutes have already started online classes to keep with the academic calendar.
However, there were demands from some institutes before the lockdown extension that the summer break be advanced to mitigate the impact of school closures on studies.
Asked about their plans to reopen schools, the aforementioned senior CBSE official said, “Right now we are waiting for schools to close and go for a summer break. We are hoping that once their summer break is over, things have improved across the country so that they can reopen without any trouble.”
Some states, the official added, had already decided to initiate an early summer break. “We have been informed that Punjab and Odisha have already declared summer vacations. States will have to take that call on their own, we cannot dictate orders to them, we will just go along with their decision,” the official added.
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They are not take any care about children and keeping exams to keep children lives on Risk
When will our school will open
When will school reopen in mp
baccho ki jaan risk pe daalke exams rakhni hai! Hadd hai BC! !