Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Monday, 27 April, said that the pending CBSE exams and competitive exams like JEE Main 2020 and NEET 2020, will be held when the lockdown is lifted and when the situation is conducive.
“We will conduct CBSE exams for 29 important subjects whenever the situation is back to normal and when the government decides to completely open up the lockdown...JEE, NEET & all other competitive exams can only be held when the situation is conducive.”Ramesh Pokhriyal
Pokhriyal made this announcement during a webinar organised to answer queries by parents and students amid the nationwide lockdown.
“For exams that have already been conducted, we are also trying to resume checking of answer scripts as soon as possible,” he said.
He also said that NCERT books have been dispatched to all parts of the country and that students would soon be able to buy them from shops.
Pokhriyal, however, asked students to maintain social distancing in these shops whenever they open and asked parents to avail of e-books as much as possible.
Which ‘Important Exams’ Will be Held for CBSE Class 10?
On 1 April, the CBSE had said that it will conduct examinations for only main subjects that will be required for promotion and may be crucial for admissions in higher educational institutions. The board had said that it would not conduct any remaining exam for Class 10 across India, as examinations for important subjects listed by the board had already been conducted.
Remaining Class 10 Exams in North East Delhi
However, the CBSE clarified that Class 10 board examinations in six key subjects will be held in North East Delhi, where mass-scale violence had led to exams being postponed. These are the six subjects:
- Hindi Course A
- Hindi Course B
- English Comm
- English Language and Literature
- Science
- Social Science
What About Class 12 Board Exams?
For the Class 12 Board examinations across India, the CBSE has confirmed that it will only conduct examinations in 12 subjects.
These include, Business Studies, Geography, Hindi (Elective), Hindi, Home Science, Sociology, Computer Science (Old), Computer Science (New), Information Practice (Old), Information Practice (New), Information Technology and Bio-Technology.
Class 12 CBSE Exams in North East Delhi
In North East Delhi, the CBSE will conduct the following exams for Class 12.
- English Elective - N
- English Elective -C
- English Core
- Mathematics
- Economics
- Biology
- Political Science
- History
- Physics
- Accountancy
- Chemistry
No Further CBSE Exam in Foreign Countries
CBSE had also said that Class 10 and 12 examinations pending in foreign countries will not be conducted due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to officials.
"There are several CBSE schools located in 25 countries. Each of these countries are also under lockdown or have decided to close down the schools for various and differential lengths of time. Under such circumstances, it is felt that the board will not be in a position to hold differential set of exams for each of these countries," CBSE Secretary Anurag Tripathi had said.
"Also, in the present situation, it will be difficult to bring the answer books to India for evaluation purposes. Therefore, the Board has decided to not hold any more exams for the students of Class 10 and 12 schools located outside India," he said.
When is JEE Main and JEE Advance Likely to be Held?
The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main Exam 2020, is likely to be held from 20 to 22 June and JEE Advanced will be held on 12 July, said Siddharth Pandey, JEE Advanced Organising Chairman, as per a report in Jagran Josh.
The universities have currently not issued any new academic calendars, given the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country and the looming lockdown. Universities are likely to start new academic sessions by September 2020 only, the report added.
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