In a major announcement, affecting lakhs of students across the country, the Union Government has decided to do away with the Class 12 – CBSE & CISCE – examinations for the academic year 2020-21. This is consistent with the decision taken for the students of class 10th and comes after the PM chaired a high-level meeting with senior ministers and officials from the CBSE.
“In view of the uncertain conditions due to COVID and the feedback obtained from various stakeholders, it was decided that Class XII Board Exams would not be held this year. It was also decided that CBSE will take steps to compile the results of class XII students as per a well-defined objective criterion in a time-bound manner,” the government said in a press release.
The Prime Minister himself made the announcement as he outlined the fact that the decision was made based on wide-ranging consultations from various quarters and stakeholders, keeping the welfare and well-being of the students at the heart of it.
“After extensive consultations, we have taken a decision that is student-friendly, one that safeguards the health as well as future of our youth,” said PM Modi while adding that the “Health and safety of our students is of utmost importance and there would be no compromise on this aspect.”
The Prime Minister chaired a meeting with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani to come to the conclusion, whilst Minister for Education Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank could not make it because of his admission to treat covid-related symptoms.
“Anxiety among students, parents, and teachers, which must be put to an end. Students should not be forced to appear for exams in such a stressful situation,” outlined the PM explaining the decision of the government.
Now the respective boards have been asked to outline a well-defined and objective criterion to carry out an assessment of the students and publish results at the earliest. Recently, both the boards had been asked to submit data of the class 12th students’ performance from their classes 9 through 11. And as an added benefit both boards have promised that the students will get a crack at writing the examination, should they be unhappy with the final assessment, when the situation improves and the boards are in a position to conduct the exams.
Overall, there was a sense of relief and jubilation with the government’s decision to cancel the exams. There are already a number of applications pending before the Supreme Court of India to consider postponement or cancellation as the second wave of corona virus continues to take a serious toll on the health of the nation.
