New Delhi: Amid spike in COVID-19 cases, more than a lakh of students in grades 10 and 12 signed petitions urging government to cancel board exams scheduled for May or to conduct them in online mode.
The hashtag “cancelboardexams2021” has been trending on Twitter for two days.
However, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) have stated that adequate security arrangements are made for students and that all COVID-19 guidelines will be followed during exams.
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“The situation in India is getting worse by the day. When there were only a few cases in the country, they canceled the remaining board reviews and now, when the cases are at their peak, they plan to open schools. We urge the Minister of Education to look into this matter and cancel all exams that will take place this year because students are already under a lot of stress, “said a petition on Change. org.
Class 10 student Divya Garg on Twitter urged the government to postpone exams for at least a month and then re-examine based on the number of cases.
“Students have faced many problems so far in this pandemic already. Classes have been held online, so exams should also be held online or students should be promoted via internal assessment marks.” , another user tweeted.
Usually, the practical exams are held in January and the written exams start in February and end in March. However, exams have been delayed and are expected to take place in May-June due to the pandemic.
“Adequate arrangements are being made to ensure student safety and compliance with all COVID protocols. The number of examination centers has been increased from 40 to 50% to ensure social distancing. Exam center staff are educated to ensure all guidelines are followed, ”said a senior CBSE official.
The board announced last week that if a student did not show up for ongoing practice exams after the student or a family member tested positive, schools would do additional testing for them at the appropriate time.
The official, however, did not say whether the same relaxation would be given to students on theory exams as well.
Likewise, Gerry Arathoon, Director General and Secretary of CISCE, said the exam schedule “will remain the same”.
Schools across the country were closed in March last year to contain the spread of COVID-19 ahead of a nationwide lockdown.
Several states began to partially reopen schools from October last year, but physical classes are once again on hold due to the exponential increase in coronavirus cases.
Last year the jury’s exams had to be postponed to mid-March. They were then canceled and the results announced based on another rating system.
The CBSE and CISCE decided not to draw up a merit list last year.
India recorded a single-day record high of 126,789 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its number of infections to 1,29,28,574, while the number of active cases also rose to once again cross the threshold. nine lakh, the Union Health Ministry data updated Thursday showed.
This story was posted from an agency feed with no text editing. Only the title has been changed.