Academics laud CBSE's decision to cancel board exams

NEW DELHI: Academicians and parent bodies on Thursday welcomed the CBSE''s decision to cancel pending board exams in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases, but said it may affect the performance of students, many of whom do not take pre-boards seriously.

The remaining CBSE and ICSE board examinations for classes 10 and 12, scheduled to be held in July, have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court was informed on Thursday.

The examinees of Class 12 students of CBSE board will have an option of either taking the exams later or to move ahead with the assessment based on their performance in the last three internal exams. The re-exam option will not be available to Class 10 students.

Jyoti Arora, principal of Mount Abu School in Rohini, said, "The decision to cancel the exams in the current situation is a child-friendly one. There would have been many challenges in conducting the exam in a scenario like this. Safety of students is paramount during this time".

Ritu Mehta, principal of Apeejay School in Sheikh Sarai, said it is a right decision which comes at a time "when parents were scared and also schools were not sure of how to conduct exams".

"We could not hold the results for too long. Any child who feels they could have done better have been given an opportunity by the CBSE to improve their performance. The situation is not very conducive. Even in Delhi, where the cases have risen, it is better that the students do not step out. Whatever format the board gives, we are going to do justice and submit the internal assessment marks."

Action Committee of Unaided Pvt Schools of India, General Secretary, Bharat Arora also welcomed the move and said it is in favour of students'' health and safety.

"Schools all across India stand with the HRD Ministry and CBSE and will extend full support with regard to Class 12 improvement examinations to be held later on," he said.

However, some academicians felt it could hamper the performance of the children as students do not take pre-boards and internal assessments with seriousness.

Ramjas School principal Sarika Arora said, "The situation is so bad in Delhi. It''s really difficult for us to conduct exams. The children are going to suffer. Students do not take pre-boards seriously. In fact, many of the students start preparing for boards thoroughly after pre-boards. Their results will be affected."

A government school teacher in Karol Bagh said students sometimes skip pre-board exams and do not put in the kind of effort they should be putting in for Boards.

If the past performance is going to be considered, it might not be a conducive situation for those students, she said.

Aparajita Gautam, president of the Delhi Parents'' Association, said the students who were banking on improving their performance in Boards will lose out on that opportunity in the present situation, but contended that with the spike in coronavirus cases in Delhi, parents were against CBSE holding exams.

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