Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, addressing the media on Sunday, 23 May, said that states have been asked to send detailed suggestions for conducting Class-12 exams by Tuesday, 25 May. The final decision will be taken on 1 June and students will be given a minimum of 15 days for preparation, he added.
“The meeting with other states on Class-12 Board exams was fruitful as we received immensely valuable suggestions. I have requested the state governments to send me detailed suggestions by 25 May,” the minister said.
Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia, who attended the meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, said that he had demanded arrangements to vaccinate students of Class-12.
“Raised the demand for making arrangements for vaccinating Class-12 students before board exams at a meeting with the central government. Conducting the examination by toying with students’ safety will be a big mistake. First vaccine, then exams,” Sisodia tweeted in Hindi.
According to Sisodia, many states had pointed out that they wanted to go with neither of the two options proposed by CBSE but a third option – which is ‘no exams’.
According to The Indian Express, the CBSE is likely to conduct Class-12 Board examinations only for major subjects and has reportedly proposed two options for the same.
CBSE’s Two Options
While the first option is to hold exams in the ‘existing format’ and at designated exam centres for the major subjects, the marks for other subjects will be calculated based on the performance in the major subjects, reported the newspaper, quoting sources.
As the second option, the CBSE has suggested that Class 12 students sit for the major subject exams in their own schools, instead of designated centres.
According to the Board, the major subjects are Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, History, Political Science, Business Studies, Accountancy, Geography, Economics, and English.
The Board has also reportedly suggested that anyone who misses the exam due to COVID-19, will be given another chance to sit for the exams.
In April, the Education Ministry had announced the cancellation of Class-10 CBSE exams and the postponement of the Class-12 exams due to surge in daily COVID-19 cases across India.
However, with the worsening situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, Class-12 students have also been demanding the cancellation of their exams.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court by advocate Mamta Sharma, seeking directions to the Centre to cancel the Class-12 board exams, reported The Indian Express.
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