CBSE cancels class 10, 12 board exams due to spike in COVID casesCBSE Board Class 12 Exams 2021 News Updates: The Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal conducted a high-level meeting on May 23 with all the states/UT education ministers, secretaries and chairpersons of state examination boards as well as stakeholders to discuss pending Class 12 board exams, entrance examinations for professional courses.
While addressing a press conference post the high-level meeting, Delhi deputy chief minister, Manish Sisodia, said that the Delhi government is not in favour of conducting Class 12 board exams.
Latest updates on CBSE Class 12 Exams
“This is not the right time to conduct exams. We must not fall for following the conventions and traditional practices of conducting exams. We are suggesting that Class 12 students should be evaluated based on performance in internal assessments. If a student is not satisfied with the awarded marks, they should be allowed to appear for exams at a later point,” Sisodia said.
CBSE Board Class 12 and competitive exams updates in Hindi
Besides CBSE and CISCE, most state boards have deferred class 12 exams due to the spike in Covid-19 cases. Entrance examinations like JEE, NEET, etc have also postponed.
The meeting was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar will be in attendance.
The government is likely to consider postponing the exams. (Graphic by Gargi Singh)
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will begin the annual tele-counselling sessions for class 10 and 12 students from May 24 onwards. Students of class 10 and 12 along with their parents can avail the tele-counselling facility at toll-free number 1800 11 8004. Read more.
Madhya Pradesh Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar on Monday announced that the final decision on class 12 board exams will be taken by the first week of June. 'Necessary decision will be taken regarding the conduct of class 12 examination. While deciding, the health and safety of the candidates will be given top priority,' Parmar said.
Apart from Delhi and Maharashtra, which urged the Centre to explore a non-examination route to assess Class 12 students, Haryana and Andaman and Nicobar are understood to have expressed difficulty in holding Board examinations before vaccination of all teachers and students.
Several states such as Kerala, Assam, Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Meghalaya have urged the Central Government to vaccinate teachers and students on priority to ensure their safety during their time at the test centre.
Delhi, Jharkhand and Maharashtra are among states that not in favour of going ahead with the examinations, said an officer who attended Sunday’s meeting of state Education Ministers and Education Secretaries that was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The BSEH will conduct the Class 12 state board examination in the respective schools of the class 12 students. There will be a provision of re-examination for students suffering from COVID-19 during the exam schedule. The dates for the re-examination will be notified later.
Most of the states have supported the CBSE’s proposal to conduct the Class 12 Board examination for only 19 major subjects in a shortened format in July-August. According to sources, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Assam and Tamil Nadu were among the states that supported holding the Board examinations in the shortened format. Read more.
As per the official statement “Considering the second option suggested in the meeting, Haryana School Education Board and Haryana government has decided to conduct objective type examination of 1:30 hours. It has been further decided that the students’ own school will be made examination center. All students will be given the datesheet 15 days in advance.”
Haryana state government and state board (BSEH) will conduct the Class 12 state board examination in the respective schools of the class 12 students. There will be a provision of re-examination for students suffering from COVID-19 during the exam schedule. The dates for the re-examination will be notified later. Read more.
Holding the Class 12 board examinations in the state would not be appropriate in the wake of the present COVID-19 situation.“If the suggestions received from the stakeholders are considered, there is a consensus on the postponement of the examination. People feel that maintaining social distance will not be possible if the exams are conducted and children can get infected,” Soren said. Read more.
After the postponement of JEE (Main) April and May 2021 sessions until further notice, there is uncertainty looming over the conduct of JEE Advanced 2021. The exam is scheduled to be conducted on July 3, 2021. Once the second round of JEE Main is conducted, only three weeks are required to prepare to conduct JEE Advanced. JEE Advanced 2021 may be conducted around September only, said experts. Read more.
Under the second format, which will take only 45 days to wind up, the CBSE has proposed that Class 12 students sit for the major subject exams in their own schools (read self-centres), instead of designated centres. Apart from the shortened duration of the examination, a Class 12 student will appear for one language and three electives (read major) subjects only.
Under the first option, the national board has suggested that examinations for 19 major subjects be held in the “existing format” and at designated examination centres — and marks for minor subjects be calculated on performance in the major subjects.
Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad on Sunday said a decision on Class 12 exams in the state, which have been postponed earlier, will be taken in a week's time, and added that the option of a “non-examination route” should be explored in view of the ongoing pandemic situation.
The Goa government will make a decision about state board examinations for Class 12 students by May 26. Read more.
Punjab School Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said that the union government should ensure the safety of students before taking decisions on examinations of class 12. While presenting his views during a virtual meeting with Union ministers, Singla said that during difficult times, the safety and security of students and teachers must be the priority of the government and every possible step should be taken in this regard.
Union Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh has requested all states and UTs to submit suggestions to the Ministry of Education by May 25. The ministry will consider all those suggestions and take a final decision soon, he added. He reiterated that the priority of the Government is to conduct all the examinations in a safe and secure environment.
Various options regarding the methodology, process, duration and timings of the exams were discussed. While a broad consensus was there, however, it was decided that States and UTs may like to further examine the matter and send their feedback in writing by May 25, 2021.
The Education Minister tweeted, "The meeting was extremely fruitful as we received immensely valuable suggestions. I have requested the State Governments to send me their detailed suggestions by 25th May."
The CGBSE class 12 students will be able to appear for board exams from home. Students will get the question papers and answer sheets from June 1 to June 5 for the chosen subjects. Students will have to submit the handwritten answer sheet within five days, which means that if a student is receiving the question paper on June 1, he/she will have to submit the answer sheets by June 6.
The Delhi government has suggested that Class 12 students should be evaluated based on performance in internal assessments. "If a student is not satisfied with the awarded marks, they should be allowed to appear for exams at a later point,” Sisodia said.
"This is not the right time to conduct exams. We must not fall for following the conventions and traditional practices of conducting exams. We are suggesting that Class 12 students should be evaluated based on performance in internal assessments. If a student is not satisfied with the awarded marks, they should be allowed to appear for exams at a later point," Manish Sisodia said.
"In a meeting with the central government, today demanded that vaccine should be arranged for all the children of class 12 before the examination. The stubbornness of organizing the examination by playing with the safety of the children will prove to be a big mistake and a failure," tweeted Delhi Deputy CM, Manish Sisodia.
In 2020, the JEE Main exam was also deferred due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The JEE Main 2020 was conducted from September 1-6, followed by JEE Advanced 2020 on September 27.
“If JEE Advanced is to be conducted as per schedule, then ideally one session of JEE Main was to be conducted in May and the second session in June. However, now that the JEE Main exams have been postponed, it is very likely that the exam date for the Advanced exam will also have to be pushed forward,” said BS Murty, director, IIT Hyderabad, which is the South zone co-ordinating institute for JEE (Advanced) 2021. Read More.
"Students studying for the CBSE 12th grade examinations have been sharing their concerns about these exams being held during the second wave of the Covid - 19 pandemic. Their health and safety MATTERS. Why are we not learning our lessons? This wave has shown that children are vulnerable to new strains. In any case, expecting children who are already under immense pressure to sit for their exams wearing all sorts of protective gear for hours at a stretch day after day is unfair and insensitive," tweeted Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
A final date of holding the NEET and JEE Main remaining sessions are also expected today. For CBSE, the dates are likely in June, while the mode of exams and assessment will be finalised today.
The education minister had earlier announced that the NEET-UG 2021 examination will be conducted on August 1. However, there have been no updates regarding the application process or admit card release so far. The education minister is expected to discuss the same during today's meeting.
Amid the coronavirus, two sessions of JEE Main 2021, which were scheduled to be conducted in April and May, were postponed until further notice. Aspirants can expect a decision on the engineering entrance exam after today's high-level meeting.
Under the first option, the national board has proposed that examinations for the major subjects be held in the “existing format” and at designated examination centres. Under the second format, which will take only 45 days, the CBSE has proposed that Class 12 students sit for the major subject exams in their own schools (read self-centres), instead of designated centres.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has proposed that it will conduct the Class 12 Board examination only for major subjects. A CBSE student takes a minimum of five and a maximum of six subjects. Of these, usually, four are major subjects.
Besides CBSE, most state boards have deferred class 12 exams due to the surge in Covid-19 cases. Entrance examinations like JEE, NEET, CLAT etc have also postponed. The panel will decide the final decision on board exams and competitive exams.
The meeting will be chaired by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. It will begin at 11:30 am and a decision will be taken after discussion with various ministers including Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, former HRD Minister and Minister of Women and Child Development Srmiti Z Irani, and former HRD Minister and currently minister of I&B Prakash Javadekar.