Vaccination or cancellation: Delhi Govt's suggestion to Centre on Class 12 exams

NEW DELHI: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Tuesday reiterated his demand of "vaccination or cancellation" in his suggestions sent to the Central government on conducting class 12 board exams. Sisodia, also Delhi's Education Minister, recommended the tabulation of results taking into account the marks students scored in class 10, class 11 and assessment during class 12 so far.

In a letter to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Sisodia said if experts suggest against giving Covishield or Covaxin jabs to class 12 students, the Centre government should procure Pfizer vaccine which has been approved for children above the age of 12 years. "If Centre and state government get on the task together all class 12 students and teachers involved in the examination process can be vaccinated within three to four weeks," he added. "If the government feels it's not feasible to vaccinate students at present then I strongly advocate that the exams should be cancelled and results should be tabulated as per scores obtained in last three years by students -- class 10, 11 and 12. Sisodia has also noted in his letter that the government should call a high-level meeting next month to start discussing the examination format for the 2022 exams. "We should start preparations already for next year keeping all circumstance in mind," he said.

The Central government had sought detailed suggestions from all state and Union Territories by May 25 following a high-level meeting on conducting the class 12 board exams which were postponed in view of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The CBSE has proposed conducting the exams between July 15-August 26 and the result to be declared in September. The board also proposed two options: conducting regular exams for 19 major subjects at notified centres or conducting shorter duration exams at respective schools where students are enrolled.

Sisodia said in his letter on Tuesday, "The two options proposed by the centre are not an answer to the challenges posed by the new strain of coronavirus. To ask students to be ready to write exams is not only insensitive but also fatal. Hence, we should consider either vaccination or cancellation." He has made this demand on earlier occasions as well. According to the Ministry of Education, there is broad consensus among states about conducting the examination and a final decision will be announced by June 1.

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