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PM Modi discusses CBSE board exams with education minister, top officials
Officials at the CBSE said that they are monitoring the situation. “The board is keeping a close watch on how the Covid-19 pandemic situation is unfolding across the country," the official said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is meeting education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' and other top officials to discuss Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) board examinations scheduled for May and June this year, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of vociferous demands from students to postpone the Class 10 and 12 exams slated to begin on May 4 due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus disease. Several opposition parties including the Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party have also nudged the central government to defer the exams.
In December, the CBSE had deferred the board examinations by a few months to May 2021, insisting that it might not be possible to push the dates any further since the delayed annual examination would have a bearing on college admission dates.
But the second wave of the coronavirus infections could cast a shadow on this plan as the country recorded a single-day increase of 184,372 cases on Wednesday while the daily toll surged past 1,000 for the first time in over five months.
The continuous surge in Covid-19 cases this week forced the Maharashtra government to postpone Class 10 and 12 exams to be held by the state's examination body. The exams were slated to begin this month.
CBSE officials had earlier indicated that they too had an open mind on rescheduling the dates. A senior official told Hindustan Times earlier this week that many state boards had postponed their exams and the CBSE was discussing the situation with the Union ministries concerned. “(We)... will soon take a call if the exams need to be postponed or not,” the official said.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who supported the demand from students to postpone the examinations, on Tuesday said the exam centres could turn into Covid-19 hot spots.
“CBSE board exams are approaching. In Delhi, there are 600,000 students who are scheduled to appear for the examinations this year. In addition to that, there are 100,000 teachers who will be involved in conducting these exams,” the chief minister said at a digital news briefing.
“Several countries which are witnessing a second wave have also cancelled such examinations. Several state governments in our country also have done the same in their respective state boards,” Kejriwal added.
