Delay in CBSE results keeps students on tenterhooks

With the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) yet to declare the results of Class 10 and Class 12 board exams, Class 11 students waiting to switch streams on the basis of their board scores and Class 12 students who have secured admissions to foreign universities are stuck in a limbo

With the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) yet to declare the results of Class 10 and Class 12 board exams, Class 11 students waiting to switch streams on the basis of their board scores and Class 12 students who have secured admissions to foreign universities are stuck in a limbo.

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The CBSE, as a norm, declares the board exam results in the month of May and the only deviation from that pattern has been the past two years of the pandemic, when results were declared in July in both 2020 and 2021. Last year, CBSE declared Class 12 results on July 30 and Class 10 on August 3.

This year, the results are being delayed despite Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan stating last week that there will be no delay. “There is no delay in the CBSE results. CBSE exams were going on till June 15. After that, checking takes 45 days,” he had said.

While streams are allocated on the basis of pre-board scores in most schools, schools offer the provision to switch streams on the basis of board exam results. School administrators said with results being delayed this year, there is a sense of uncertainty and anxiety among Class 11 students as many of them are unable to decide which stream to pursue. Such students were either attending limited classes or skipping them altogether, they said.

Rashmi Raj Biswal, principal, DAV Public School, Pushpanjali Enclave, said there was confusion among children and clarity would emerge only after the declaration of results. “There is a lot of indecisiveness among students. Since there is a subject fee in classes 11 and 12 that varies across streams, we wait for the final stream allocation before admissions are authenticated. While children are coming to school, there is uncertainty and confusion since they are not sure which stream they would eventually pursue,” said Biswal.

Sudha Acharya, chairperson of the National Progressive School Conference (NPSC) — it has more than 120 Delhi schools as its members, including Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Delhi Public Schools and Amity International School — said that some students were not attending school regularly since they were still waiting for the results.

“Many students are waiting for the board result. They are confident that they’ll be able to opt for a stream of their choice. Some of them are only attending select classes in subjects that are common across streams. Many others are skipping school as they don’t want to pay the fee unless they are allocated a stream of their choice. They might switch schools if the results are not what they expected,” said Acharya, principal of ITL Public School, Dwarka.

Besides students awaiting class 10 board results, Class 12 students who have taken up admissions in universities outside India are also on tenterhooks. Parents say children are unable to apply for a visa due to the delay in the result declaration.

“My daughter needs to apply for a Schengen visa (European Union visa) but the delay in declaration of board results is wrecking our plans. Without board results, she cannot apply for the visa. There is a lot of anxiety among students and parents as our children need to fly out by August-end,” said the father of a Class 12 student, asking not to be named. He said his daughter has secured an admission to a university in France. The academic term in most universities start in September.

“Students have secured provisional admissions in foreign universities but they need their results to start the visa process, which in itself would take months. In such a situation, students are naturally worried about missing classes in September,” said Acharya.

Punnya Vij, managing director and principal counsellor at Educoach Services, an education consultancy firm, said the admission and visa processes are different across countries. Vij said one couldn’t apply for a visa to a country where universities provided conditional admission. “People going to the UK cannot apply for a visa if their admission is conditional. They’d require the board results. Even for Schengen countries (EU countries), one cannot secure a visa in the absence of results, demonstrating the academic record,” said Vij.

Dr Sanyam Bhardwaj, controller of examinations, CBSE, did not respond to queries seeking comment. Other officials maintained that results will be declared on time.

Educationist Gowri Ishwaran said that it was important for the CBSE to come up with a plan well in advance to allay concerns of students. “Many things are now happening at the last minute in a haphazard manner due to which there is a lot of anxiety among students. The CBSE should release a plan much in advance and publicise it so that students are not caught off-guard. There should be more clarity on the academic cycle,” said Ishwaran.