Principals welcome government's decision on CBSE board exams 2021

Following a high-level meeting presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Education Secretary, and other government officials, it was announced on April 14 that the CBSE class 10 board exams will not be held this year and class 12 exams be postponed to May 30.

While class 10 students will be promoted on the basis of an internal assessment, a revised schedule will be issued by the board for class 12th board exams on June 1.

Most school principals seems to have welcomed the decision by the government. Here’s what they to say:

Prajodh Rajan, Co-Founder & Group CEO, EuroKids International: “The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the entire nation since March 2020. As the current examination cycle is upon us, and the second wave of Covid-19 is impacting more people and children across the country than before, the recent decision of the CBSE Board authorities to cancel class 10 examinations and postpone class 12 examinations is a welcome step in alleviating students’ and parents’ concerns about offline examinations. At EuroKids International, we will adhere to the CBSE Board’s decision on the ‘objective criterion’ for the class 10 students, and await to hear from the board on the dates for the class 12 students. While today’s announcement offers much relief, class 12th students remain on tender hooks as to when their year will close. This postponement of their examinations will impact college admissions for the coming year, as the exam, paper checking and results announcements remain open.”

Dr Mona Lisa Bal, Chairperson, KiiT International School: “21,50,761 students were scheduled to appear in class 10 CBSE board exams while 14,30,243 students were supposed to take the class 12 exams. Cancelling the 10th and postponing the 12th board exams is a positive move from the health perspective. With the alarming rise in the number of daily cases in the country, it was but an imperative step. It has been seen that the second wave of Covid is affecting children more and they are also showing signs of the disease physically and hence conducting examinations with lakhs of students would have only increased the risk. However, we also must make sure that the pandemic does not have any more negative impact on the children’s education and career. Therefore, internal assessments should be the criterion for now. Entrance exams like JEE & NEET can be conducted later for students once situation is under control. It is time for the students to strategically plan their successful schedule. Focus on the directions given by the teachers, systematically appear in tests. This decision will also have an impact on the students’ psychology, and some might get disheartened after preparing for their exams for over a year now.”

Sangeeta Hajela, Principal, DPS Indirapuram: “In view of the Covid cases increasing exponentially, we appreciate the decision to cancel the Class 10th board examinations – it is not the school-leaving examinations marking the transition to higher learning institutions; the result of 10 board helps students and teachers assess the stream choice and the subject allocation. In such a time when the pandemic has reached its peak, it is better to calculate their result on the basis of internal assessments and overall performance. The focus should be now to address the learning gap that has already occurred. However, class 12th board examinations have a different kind of sanctity attached to them, because all higher studies opportunities and career choices, both in India and abroad, depend on it. So, postponing the class 12th exams and not cancelling them is a good decision.”

Damodar Prasad Goyal, president, Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan: “Cancellation and postponement is a decision of the government which may have far reaching impacts. Class 10 batch will not be considered as batches of previous years. Politically controlled examination boards will be generous for this batch in 2023 class 12 examination. At the cost of criticism, I am venturing to state that the batch 2020-21 of all classes, i.e. from pre-primary to class 12 and even higher classes including professional education has suffered a huge learning gap. This learning gap will cause a great distress in life of these students. As educators, on this platform and at all platforms, we should discuss and plan for reducing the learning gap happened in 2020-21. If present situation continues in 2021-22 ,then it will have very sever effect on future human capital of future.”

Dr Bijaya Kumar Sahoo, Founder, Sai International Education Group: “It is a good decision by the government to cancel the CBSE class 10 board examinations 2021, keeping in mind the best interests of the students and ensuring that their health is taken care of at the same time their academic interests are not harmed. It is a great relief for lakhs of students who would have appeared in the exams during the pandemic. We will be waiting for the objective criterion to be developed by the board for preparing the results of class 10. But yes for class 12, June will not be a conducive month for holding exams as the students would be looking forward to their other competitive and career examinations such as NEET, BITSAT, CLAT, JEE Advanced and other both India and Abroad University applications. I am looking forward to a decision which will be helpful for the students. An early declaration of revised schedule will reduce the stress and anxiety of both students and parents, as this decision has left the students in a lot of dilemma and anxiety as to how to plan their way forward.”

Pallavi Upadhyaya, Principal, DPS-RNE Ghaziabad: “Cancelling off-line examination is indeed a great move as there is an alarming increase in Covid cases. But it is not a complete cancellation. The board is planning to design a new objective criterion to assess the students of class 10. The pattern should be shared as quickly as possible with the schools to enable the teachers to get the students ready for the same. I welcome the decision taken by the government.”

Rajat Goel, Director, MRG School, Rohini: “Considering the current scenario, where we do not have enough online provisions throughout the country, it is a practical move. Having said that, in the entire year of the pandemic, we have not been able to develop our country to provide education to students all over the country. Had we been prepared for it, we could have made online provisions for the same. Its unfortunate that the students have put in so much effort throughout the year to achieve their desired result in board examination for nothing but in the current situation, health comes first for all. We should fight corona together and get vaccinated as soon.”

Dr Dishan Kamdar, Vice Chancellor, FLAME University: “While the CBSE Board’s decision to postpone the class 12 examination will help provide relief for students in this second wave of the pandemic, this will however impact colleges and universities. Like all higher education institutions, we will have to assess the admission cycles and processes for the incoming 2021-22 batch to accommodate the postponement of Class XII final examinations.”