india

Updated: Apr 29, 2020 17:39 IST

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) plans to conduct the pending board examinations for classes 10 and 12 at the first possibility, according to officials aware of the matter who also said students will be informed about the process at least 10 days in advance.

CBSE earlier declared that it would conduct exams in 12 important subjects for Class 12. Exams for 17 other subjects for classes 10 and 12, which could not be held in communal violence hit north-east Delhi, will also be conducted.

“Recently, there has been a lot of speculation regarding CBSE Board exams. The board’s decision to take exams for 29 subjects of class 10 and 12, stands the same. There is no change in position of conducting board exams. Therefore, exams will be conducted,” Sanyam Bhardwaj, CBSE’s controller of examinations said.

The clarification came amid uncertainty over when the exams will be conducted, leading to speculations that the exams will be done away with in a one-time arrangement. Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Tuesday his government has asked the human resource development ministry to evaluate and promote students of classes 10 and 12 on the basis of their scores in internal exams.

“We are prepared to conduct board exams for classes 10 and 12 pending due to the lockdown in wake of the Covid-19 situation in the country. The exams will be conducted for 29 subjects crucial for promotion and admissions to undergraduate courses, at the first possibility. The students will be given at least a 10-day notice before exams are conducted,” a senior HRD ministry official said.

“States have been asked to start the evaluation process for the exams already conducted and have been advised to facilitate evaluation of answer sheets. The CBSE will also issue instructions for marking or assessment of non-important subjects not included in the list of 29 subjects,” the official said.

The Bihar board has already announced results for three streams of class 12 and is in the process of evaluation of class 10 exams. The Uttar Pradesh board is yet to begin the evaluation and will take a call in this regard soon.

According to HRD ministry officials, as of now there are plans to conduct competitive exams including JEE and NEET in June for admissions to engineering and medical colleges. For other undergraduate admissions, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is working on an alternative calendar for the new academic session.

Universities and schools across the country have been closed and exams postponed since March 16 when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

Later, a nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 25, and it was later extended till May 3. The board was not able to conduct exams to classes 10 and 12 on eight examination days due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Further, due to the law and order situation in northeast Delhi, the board was not able to conduct exams on four examination days, while a very small number of students from and around this district were not able to appear in exams on six days.

CBSE has already announced that it will not be conducting any exams for students in foreign countries.

“There are several CBSE schools located in 25 countries (which too are affected by Covid-19)…Under such circumstances, it is felt that the board will not be in a position to hold differential sets of exams for each of these countries,” the official said.

(with agency inputs)