ICSE Board Exams: CISCE Says Students Will Not Be Forced To Give Exams; Gives Options For Evaluation Of Final Results

Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) has said that students will not be forced to appear for the pending Board examinations of classes 10 and 12 and has given options for students for the final evaluation of results.

Photo Credit: PTI

New Delhi: The Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) has decided not to force students to appear for the pending Board examinations of classes 10 and 12 which are scheduled to begin from July 1. The Board submitted their decision to the Bombay High Court on Monday in response to a petition. Initially, the exams were scheduled between February 27 to March 30, but due to the nationwide lockdown, the exams from March 19 onwards were cancelled. The new schedule to conduct remaining exams was announced last month but it was opposed by parents as there was a surge in cases of coronavirus in the country. Parents also started a Twitter campaign 'Cancel ICSE Exams' to dissuade the Board from going ahead with their decision. Some parents also submitted petitions to the Supreme court for cancellation of the exams. The decision was submitted in response to a petition filed by Arvind Tiwari who challenged the ICSE's decision to hold Class 10 examinations from July 2 to July 12 across Maharashtra. According to the response by the CISCE at the Bombay High Court, students will be given an option to either

• give the pending exams as per the scheduled timetable
• Or to use internal assessment, pre-board exams conducted by their own school, or the subjects for which board exams were already conducted as the basis for determining their final performance. The results of the other subject will be determined by the student’s performance in the examinations held so far.

Students will have to submit their options to the respective schools and the options of each student will be ascertained informed to the board by June 22. Students will be able to make a subject-wise choice between the above-given options. The CISCE also clarified in the notification that if a student wished to change their option, they can any time before the exam is conducted by informing their school. The notification also said that, if the exams that are supposed to be conducted in July are completely cancelled, then the results of the pending exams will be based on internal assessment and pre-board exams conducted by their own school, or the subjects for which board exams were already conducted as the basis for determining their final performance. Despite the opposition, the ICSE has told the Court that examinations should be held and that all safety measures will be undertaken. It was also informed that if a student is unable to attend the exam because he or she is suffering from Covid-19 or a family member is suffering from it, or if he or she is residing in a containment zone, such a student can appear for re-examination in September 2020.