The Education Ministry has called a crucial meeting today to decide on pending Class 12 board exams that were earlier postponed in view of the second wave of COVID-19, Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said. Education ministers and secretaries of all states and union territories have been asked to attend the meeting. The meeting will be chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar will also be in attendance.
“As the conduct of Class 12 exams impacts upon state board exams and other entrance exams across the country, and to reduce uncertainty among students, it is desirable that a considered decision based on inputs of different state governments and UT administrations is taken about Class 12 board exam in the interest of all the students across the country," Mr Pokhriyal said in a letter addressed to all the state education secretaries.
In view of the prevailing situation, almost all state education boards, the CBSE and the ICSE have postponed their Class 12 examinations. The exams, which are usually conducted in February-March every year, were scheduled to be held from May 4. The CBSE Board had announced that a decision on the 12th board exams 2021 will be taken on or after June 1.
Similarly, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and other national exam conducting institutions have also postponed entrance exams such as JEE Main 2021 and NEET PG 2021 for admissions to professional courses.
Major Announcements Expected Today
Conducting CBSE board exams and ICSE Class 12 exam for only main subjects is one of the suggestions expected to be discussed at the high-level meeting today. Considering the recent upsurge in COVID-19 cases, the boards might announce holding the Class 12th board exams for only important subjects.
CBSE board could also plan the Class 12 exams this year in two phases keeping in mind the COVID-19 situation in respective states. The board might consider holding examinations for students who miss due the first phase of exams due to reasons associated with COVID. A student might be infected with coronavirus or stay in COVID-19 containment zones. The board might consider taking the exams for these students again.
At the meeting, the ministers are likely to discuss on the possibilities of devising Class 12 internal assessment scheme. If at all, the board exams get cancelled, the ministers might address how the students will be evaluated in the cancelled Class 12th exams.
If the states or districts are not found in a position to conduct 12th board exam, CBSE may cancel Class 12 board exam 2021 and announce 12th results 2021 as per an alternative assessment scheme. A senior CBSE board official, however, said, "nothing has been finalised yet. A final call will only be taken by the Education Ministry after considering suggestions from all stakeholders".
The ministers will also discuss the possibility of conducting JEE Main and NEET 2021 in offline mode in the present scenario. So far, two sessions of JEE Main have been postponed. It is still unclear if NEET 2021 will be held on August 1 as the NTA has not released the NEET application form 2021 yet. Earlier, the students have demanded that the medical entrance exam, NEET 2021, be held twice this year.
