With Covid-19 infections increasing in Mumbai again, schools are awaiting clarity about the conduct of practical and oral exams for Class 10 students. Teachers from the city are now urging the education department to issue clear guidelines with respect to internal exams.
“While the board has declared the timetable for written exams, we are awaiting detailed guidelines with respect to the conduct of practical and oral exams. Exams are barely two months away and both schools and students are awaiting clarity on the same,” said Rajesh Pandya, vice-president of the Teachers Democratic Front.
Teachers said since local authorities have not permitted reopening of schools in the city so far, they were worried about planning exams. “We have no idea as to when schools will be allowed to reopen. Students need some prior intimation to be able to prepare for the exams,” said the principal of a suburban school in the city.
Also Read | JNU campus to open for final year MPhil grads from March 8
An official from the education department said that detailed guidelines in this regard will be out soon.
{{/usCountry}}An official from the education department said that detailed guidelines in this regard will be out soon.
{{/usCountry}}Similarly, several teachers and parents’ groups have been repeatedly requesting the state board to grant 50% weightage to internal assessments to reduce the stress of students in the middle of a pandemic. On Sunday, a group of YouTube educators in Maharashtra wrote to the state education minister Varsha Gaikwad to assess students on the basis of online project work instead of practicals. “The board also needs to reduce the syllabus further and should release a question bank or sample paper sets for students this year.
This year, HSC (Class 12) examinations will be held between April 23 to May 29, 2021 and SSC (Class 10) examinations between April 29 to May 31. Nearly 1.5 million students appear for the HSC exam while over 1.7 million students write their SSC exam in the state every year. While the board conducts these exams in the months of February and March every year, this year, due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the resultant lockdown, they have been postponed.