CBSE & ISC Class 12 Boards Cancelled
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-06-02 07:17:18
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
Finally, thankfully and mercifully, CBSE and ISC have decided to cancel the Class 12 board exams for 2021. The Boards are looking at alternative ways to assess the students, including taking into account the marks they got in the internal Tests over the last year. The Prime Minister said that "after extensive consultations, we have taken a decision that is student-friendly, one that safeguards the health as well as the future of our youth". But as in all other things, this decision comes after the Supreme Court warned the CBSE that it will have to give a good reason for not cancelling the exams, hinting that it might have to step in otherwise.
This is a wise decision that should have been taken at least a month ago when it was clear that the second wave was more ferocious and dangerous, India was in no position to rapidly vaccinate its population and restrictions would stay in place for longer than initially envisaged. The figures yelled for a decision to be taken. When the 2020 exams were cancelled, there were only 1.85 lakh active cases whereas now we have more fresh cases on a daily basis and more than 21 times deaths. Was it proper to delay the decision and cause anxiety to the students, already stressed by being cooped up inside their homes?
Going ahead, if online classes are going to become part of the learning process from now on (as experts have suggested to impart some part of the lessons online), CBSE, ISC and other Central and state boards as well as other educational institutes that hold competitive exams should seriously think of holding online examinations. There are many ways online exams can be conducted, including the open book method, and the time given to a student can be suitably adjusted to get a correct assessment. Obviously these exams will have to be in multiple choice method but experts can work out other ways to hold online exams, including subjective or long answer exams.
