According to reports, the ministry is considering cancellation of board exams, following demands from both students and state governments.
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After a massive appeal by the parents and a PIL in the SC to cancel the CBSE board exams the apex court had directed the board to communicate its stand on the conduct of pending CBSE exams by Tuesday, 23 June. The parents have requested tp scrap the board exams and provide the result on the basis of internal assessment.
HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal last week had conducted various review meetings with officials from NTA, CBSE, School Education, and Literacy department, MHRD to look into the examination schedule and reopening of schools. He commented that the ministry’s priority has always been the safety and security of students and teachers.
States have requested to cancel board exams
Maharashtra, Delhi and Odisha governments have requested the ministry to cancel the CBSE exams amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Delhi Deputy Ministry Manish Sisodia had also earlier said that they are not in favour to conduct the board exams.
19 states and union territories in India including Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand have already conducted Board examinations for Class 12 students. In such a scenario, those states that are already done with their school exams will soon start their admission process for universities or colleges and CBSE students may miss their chance to apply considering if exams are postponed beyond July 15. Therefore, it is crucial for CBSE to come up with an alternative
Decision on NEET UG 2020 and JEE Main 2020
As per the schedule, JEE (Advanced) 2020 is scheduled for August 23, NEET for 26 July & JEE Main 2020 from 18 July to 23 July but very likely both the exams will be postponed due to the massive rise in numbers.
With regard to NEET UG 2020 and JEE Main 2020, the conducting agency NTA has to take into account the fact that a lot of admission process for various colleges and universities depends on the exams. Since lakhs of students’ future depend on these exams, it will be a difficult decision to cancel them.
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According to a report by The Indian Express, Officials have conceded that while canceling the board examinations was still a viable option seeing the pandemic situation in the country, the National Testing Agency, that conducts NEET and JEE (Main) has not been able to decide on the fate of these entrance tests.
“Considering that these tests are extremely important for lakhs of students looking for careers in medicine and engineering—not holding the examinations are not the option but the question being discussed is how to do that ensuring minimum risk possible to candidates and teachers,” said another official.
A proposal that has emerged is that NEET should be conducted in both online and offline modes in a staggered manner so that crowding is avoided at examination centres.
“Nothing, however, is final yet and will be decided only over the next few days,” the official also said.
While the ministry is likely to take a call on CBSE exams by the end of the day, it is not clear if an announcement regarding the conduct of JEE Main and NEET UG exams will be made or not.
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