Amid The COVID-19 Second Wave CBSE Cancels Board Exams For Class 10, Postpones Class 12

The CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) has cancelled the board exam for Class 10 and postponed the board exam for Class 12 in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19 in the country.

The development came after Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting today to review the examinations to be held at various levels in view of the developing Corona situation. Union Education Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary, School and Higher Education Secretaries and other top officials attended the meeting.

Board Exams for Class 10th cancelled & 12th postponed. Results of Class 10th will be prepared on the basis of an objective criterion to be developed by the Board. Class 12th exams will be held later, the situation will be reviewed on 1st June by the Board: Ministry of Education pic.twitter.com/ljVuUkEChB

¡ª ANI (@ANI) April 14, 2021

The Board Exams for xlass Xth to be held from 4th May to June 14th, 2021 are hereby cancelled. The results of class Xth Board will be prepared on the basis of an objective criterion to be developed by the board, the CBSE said. 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, it added.

Earlier, many had expressed feares that conducting board exams now is a recipe for disaster and are joining the call to either cancel or postpone it.

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Delhi CM wants boards cancelled

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the Centre to cancel the CBSE board examinations amid a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the national capital.

"6 lakh children in Delhi are going to write CBSE exams. Nearly 1 lakh teachers will be a part of it. These can become major hotspots leading to large-scale spreading of Corona. Children's lives & health is very important to us. I request Centre to cancel CBSE exams," Kejriwal said.

He further stated that the online method or internal assessment can be used to promote students.

"Some alternative methods could be thought of. Children can be promoted this time on the basis of either an online method or internal assessment. But CBSE exams should be cancelled," added the Delhi Chief Minister.

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Congress, Shiv Sena also say the same

Last week, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had urged Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal to intervene and direct CBSE to reconsider its decision to go ahead with the board examinations in May despite the "massive and uncontrolled" rise in COVID-19 cases.

The Shiv Sena 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.

Over 2 lakh students have signed an online petition demanding cancellation of board exams and the hasthtag "cancelboardexams" has also been trending on Twitter since a week.

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States including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab have already announced changes in plans for board exams.

Schools across the country were closed in March last year to contain the spread of COVID-19 ahead of a nationwide lockdown.

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Last year, the board exams had to be postponed mid-way in March. They were later cancelled and the results were announced on the basis of an alternative assessment scheme.