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With class 10 and most class 12 exams over, CBSE hopes guidelines will allow it to evaluate
The board is keenly awaiting the lockdown guidelines to be issued by the Centre on Wednesday in the hope that they will allow movement of answersheets for evaluation which will facilitate the readying of the results.
With the class 10 exam and most of class 12 exams having been conducted, the CBSE has turned its gaze towards evaluation of answer sheets so that it can ready the results and declare them soon.
The board is keenly awaiting the lockdown guidelines to be issued by the Centre on Wednesday in the hope that they will allow movement of answer sheets for evaluation which will facilitate the readying of the results.
Among two other two premier English medium boards, the Council for the Indian School Certificate (CISC) said it was ready to hold exams as soon as possible while the International Baccalaureate (IB) has decided there would be no tests this year.
Also Read: CBSE releases updated FAQs about class 10 and 12 board exams 2020 at cbse.nic.in
“Holding examinations are our top priority and the board is ready to conduct them as soon as the lockdown ends. Meanwhile, the board is also looking to kick start again the process of evaluation which remains stalled at this moment. All exams for class 10 have been conducted and only few left for class 12. We are keenly awaiting the guidelines that will be issued by the Centre on Wednesday. If an exemption is made allowing for movement of answer sheets, it will make our task easier,” the official said.
The official added that incase of a scenario where holding exams is not possible, other options like marking based on assessment etc would be considered.
Significantly, for students in CBSE affiliated schools abroad, it has already been decided that
Exams will not be held and a system of marking and assessment for declaring results would be chalked out.
“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 HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and HRD secretary Amit Khare.
When contacted, 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”.
Officials at the Council for the Indian School Certificate (CISC) said that they are waiting for a go ahead from the government before announcing a fresh date sheet. CISC chief executive Gerry Arathoon said that there are eight exams left for ISC (class 12) and six 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,” he said
There are around 2,500 CISC affiliated schools in India and abroad. Arathoon said that the board will give at least a week to students for the preparation after announcing the new dates. “We can’t even think about any other mode exam such as online. We are not well equipped for that,” Arathoon said.
The International Baccalaureate (IB) has cancelled exams this year in view of the prevailing situation. In an official statement released on March 23, the 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 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.
Officials at Shri Ram School in Maulsari Gurgaon, which also offers IB’s Diploma Programme (DP) for classes 11 and 12, said, “The board takes very thorough internal assessment throughout the year. We have already submitted the assignments and project work of students with the board.”
IB’s official website says that it’s expected to declare the results by July first week. Students will also be allowed to retake exams if they will not be happy with the results.
The extension of lockdown led to stress and anxiety among board aspirants. Shreya Sinha, a class 12 student in a private school in south Delhi said that it’s become a “never ending wait” for her. “It’s so unprecedented. I’ve only one exam left and it’s looking like a unnecessary burden. Don’t know what will happen for our undergraduate admission. I want to get over with the exams as soon as possible,” she said.
Another class 12 student at Ahlcon Public School in east Delhi said that he was finding it difficult to prepare for his entrance exam due to the stress. Manjula Shenoi, Principal of Senior School Principal, Pathways World School, Aravali in Gurgaon said that many of their students have got acceptance for admission in many foreign universities.”The IB took the decision of cancelling the decision after consulting with all the stakeholders including the foreign universities. Many of our students have already got admission acceptance from foreign universities based on their college application,” she said.
