The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is likely to take a final call on its pending Board examinations by Monday, following consultations with the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, National Testing Agency, University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on Thursday and Friday. According to a senior Ministry official, several options are on the table, including giving students a choice on whether to write the examinations or not, universal cancellation, and further postponement to September.
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A section of parents and students are demanding cancellation of the Board examinations scheduled to be held in July in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Supreme Court has given the Board a deadline of June 23 to communicate a final decision.
Pending papers
Class XII students across the country still have to write pending papers after the examination schedule was suspended in mid-March. Both Class X and Class XII students in parts of north-east Delhi affected by violence in February still have pending papers as well. These areas are now some of the worst affected COVID-19 districts as well.
Several State governments, including Maharashtra and Delhi, have expressed reservations against conducting the exams in July.
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HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has been holding regular consultations on the issue, as well as demands for postponement or cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and JEE (Joint Entrance Exam), entrance examinations for admission to medical and engineering courses.
Any further postponement in the CBSE’s school leaving Board examinations will also lead to further delays in college admissions and the higher education schedule for the next academic year, said an official. If the examinations are cancelled or made optional, internal assessment scores may be considered instead, along with the student’s performance in the examinations already completed.
