Delhi govt schools request CBSE to extend date for class 10 results

Two days after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced the guidelines for the revised assessment scheme for class 10 students, in the wake of board exams being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, principals of Delhi government schools have expressed concerns over the timeline given by the board and said it may be difficult to submit the result sheets to the CBSE by June 5, as directed

Two days after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced the guidelines for the revised assessment scheme for class 10 students, in the wake of board exams being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, principals of Delhi government schools have expressed concerns over the timeline given by the board and said it may be difficult to submit the result sheets to the CBSE by June 5, as directed. The board plans to declare the results on June 20.

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The CBSE on Sunday asked each school s to form a results committee, comprising the school principal, five teachers, and two external examiners, by May 5 and to finalise a “rationalisation document” by May 10. The committee would be in charge of preparing the class 10 results which will be calculated this time on the basis of internal tests and assessments.

The unprecedented spike in Covid-19 cases and fatalities in the second wave of the pandemic across the country -- and the fourth wave in Delhi -- had forced the CBSE to cancel class 10 exams. But with several government schools turning into Covid care centres and vaccination centres, and teachers being allotted Covid-19 duties, several principals said they would not be able to carry out the steps listed by the CBSE within the stipulated time frame.

For instance, principals have said it is “impossible” to select five teachers and two external examiners by May 5 and follow guidelines like ensuring that there is no overlap of teachers in the committees of two nearby schools.

Sukhbir Singh Yadav, president of Vice- and Principals’ Association of Delhi, said, “All heads of schools are of the opinion that nothing should be started in May. Many schools have been converted into vaccination centres and Covid care centres in Delhi. There is a 100% risk of getting infected if principals and teachers are asked to step outside of homes. It is not possible to form a committee by May 5.”

In a letter to the CBSE chairperson on Monday, Yadav asked the board to defer implementation of the May 1 notification till the pandemic situation improves.

Sujata Tamta, head of school at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya at Molarband, said, “We won’t be able to form the results committee by May 5. Our vice-principal and around seven teachers have already tested Covid positive and this number keeps increasing. Many of the teachers also have to arrange medicines and other items for their family members who are ill. We will revisit this in a few days.”

CBSE officials, however, said the members of the committee could work from home. Controller of examinations Sanyam Bhardwaj said, “We are only talking about five teachers and they don’t have to come to the school. This can be done from home as well.” Schools have to submit marks to the CBSE by June 5 and results will be declared on June 20.

Awadhesh Kumar Kha, principal of Sarvodaya co-ed Vidyalaya in Rohini Sector 8, however, said the different clauses and modalities stated in the notification will make it difficult to coordinate remotely.

The board had also directed that if any candidate has not appeared in any of the assessments conducted by the school, the school may conduct an offline/online or a telephonic one-on-one assessment.

“Work from home will not be feasible because not many internal exams were conducted due to the pandemic. The notification from the CBSE suggests that teachers will have to conduct these exams by May 15. We have around eight sections of class 10 in our school. To ensure standardisation of marks, as directed by the CBSE, will require analysing subject-wise marks of three years and these things cannot happen remotely. Teachers will have to come to school for this,” he said.