After a long phase of pandemic-induced uncertainty in the education sector and the partial reopening of schools, the Central Board of Secondary Education recently decided to hold the Class X and Class XII board examinations.
After a year of mostly online classes, the CBSE opted to go ahead with the first two crucial exams of students’ academic career, starting May 4 through June 10 this year. The CBSE stated that the practical examinations for the academic year shall be held from March 1 onwards and the final results for the exams will be declared in July.
Due to the pandemic, the board exams have been postponed by 80 days. In previous years, the practical examinations were held in January every year and the theory examinations in February, concluding by March.
Since the Covid-19 situation messed up class schedules, the syllabus for the 2021 board examinations has been reduced 30 per cent by the CBSE. It also postponed the board exams to May this year so that students can make up for the academic loss they faced over the course of the past year. The CBSE is also working towards holding examinations in nearly 25 countries of the world where it has a presence.
Educationists are of the view that the decision to postpone the class X and class XII board examination was a necessary one as the students of the 2020-21 academic session had come under huge pressure due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The deference of the examination dates will help the students complete their syllabus with enough time for proper revisions. This decision from the CBSE will protect the students’ grade from suffering the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the start and end dates of the board examinations are out, the detailed date sheets for the examination are yet to be. CBSE schools around the country have, however, held pre-boards examination to keep their students prepared for the examination as the announcement of dates were being anticipated for some time.
The CBSE has also announced that it will be conducting the board examination in the offline mode, just like previous years. With active cases of Covid-19 still prevalent in the country and new cases of the new strain of the deadly virus being detected now, the organisation of crucial examinations such as the Class X and Class XII board examinations in a post-pandemic phase for thousands of students around the country will be a huge challenge for the CBSE.
As students fall in the more susceptible group in the Covid-19 infection spectrum, some experts reckon that the organisation of written examinations for the students might not be the most judicious decision of the board under present circumstances.
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