CBSE awaits guidelines for clarity on exams
NEW DELHI : The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is hoping guidelines the Union government will release on Wednesday will provide some clarity on conducting the remaining Class 12 board examinations and on evaluating Class 12 and Class 10 papers, even as it prepares for the worst case scenario of not being able to hold the exams at all.
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISC) is also waiting for the guidelines and preparing to hold exams as soon as possible while the International Baccalaureate (IB) has decided that there will be no tests this year and that all students will be marked on the basis of their predictive grades.
“Holding examinations is our top priority and the board is ready to conduct them as soon as the lockdown ends. Meanwhile, the board is also looking to kickstart the process of evaluation which has been stalled (by the lockdown), All exams for class 10 have been conducted and only a few are left for class 12. We are keenly awaiting the guidelines that will be issued by the Centre on Wednesday,” said a CBSE official who asked not to be named.
The official added that in case it is not possible to conduct the exams, options such as marking students based on internal assessment would be considered.
Significantly, CBSE-affiliated schools abroad have already decided that exams will not be held; these schools are figuring out a way to mark students.
“This however will not be a preferred option. Our attempt is to conduct the exams,” said the official, adding that a decision would be taken soon in consultation with human resource development (HRD) minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and HRD secretary Amit Khare.
CBSE secretary Anurag Tripathi said: “We are awaiting the detailed guidelines. At this time we cannot say more, but whatever decision we take will be in the interest of students”.
The CBSE had on April 1 decided that it will hold nationwide class 12 board exams in 12 main subjects.
There are 12 subjects for which exams are pending in the case of CBSE ( business studies, geography, Hindi (elective), Hindi (core), home science, sociology, computer science (old), computer science (new), information practice (old), information practice (new), information technology and biotechnology) and eight in the case of CISCE.There are also six exams left for ICSE (Class 10).
“We are ready with our plans. But we can put them into practice only after the lockdown is lifted or if we get a go ahead from the government,” said Gerry Arathoo, CISCE’s CEO.
There are around 2,500 CISCEaffiliated schools in India and abroad. Arathoon said that the board will give at least a week to students for preparations. “We can’t even think about any other mode to hold the exam such as online. We are not well equipped for that.”
The International Baccalaureate (IB) has cancelled exams this year in view of the situation. In an official statement released on March 23, IB said that it consulted stakeholders across the globe and decided that the May 2020 exams should not be held.
According to the IB’s official website, it will award the diploma/course certificate to the students after evaluating their overall performance in the last exams. “We will be using vast historical assessment data to ensure that we follow a rigorous process of due diligence in what is a truly unprecedented situation. We will be undertaking significant data analysis from previous exam sessions, individual school data, subject data as well as comparative data of schools who have already completed uploading requirements and those who have not.”
The board had asked schools to submit the coursework for all candidates.
The extension of the lockdown has not gone down well with some students waiting to appear for exams. Shreya Sinha, a class 12 student in a private school in south Delhi, said that it’s become a “never ending wait” for her. “I’ve only one exam left and it’s looking like an unnecessary burden. Don’t know what will happen for our undergraduate admission. I want to get over with the exams as soon as possible.”
Another class 12 student at Ahlcon Public School said he hasn’t been able to focus on an entrance exam due to the stress of not giving his school exams -although even the former has been postponed. “I am preparing for the NEET and it’s also been postponed now. It’s so difficult to concentrate on studies these days. I wish my CBSE board exams were over.” NEET is short for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test.