The India Wide Parents Association has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the Class 12th board exams. The decision on Class 12 exams across the boards including Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Indian School Certificate (ISC) and several state boards is yet to be made. While Class 10 board exams are cancelled for the academic year 2020-21, the Class 12 exams are postponed and the decision on it is awaited.
In the letter to the Prime Minister, the Parents Association has sought an alternative mode of assessment for the Class 12 students as the upcoming 12th board exams in physical mode will not be feasible “due to alarming rate of growth of COVID-19 cases and deaths during second wave” and delaying the exams further will only result in the increase of mental stress and loss of time.
“Conducting offline exam is not possible now for at least few months due to the current situation in India so govt must step in and find out an alternative for an offline exam, and delaying exams will further cause anxiety, mental stress and depression among students,” the letter reads.
It further added: “It's going to have an immense negative impact on the mental health of students. Also there is a chance that their entire year will be wasted. Students are studying in grade 12 for more than 1.5 years now.”
The Parents Association suggests that a uniform decision regarding Class 12 board exams be made and an alternative mode of assessment is adopted to evaluate the students of Class 12.
“Students can be evaluated based on past performance and colleges can have an aptitude test if required,” they suggested.
The Parents Association in the letter said, many universities are now accepting internal assessment grades so the same can be done in India too.
