CBSE Board Exams Might Be Cancelled, Decision Likely By Monday: Official

NEW DELHI: The Union Human Resources Development Ministry could announce its revised decisions on holding or not holding examinations by next week, amid growing apprehensions of the scheduled exams amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, the board had announced that remaining CBSE class X and XII examinations will be held between July 1 and 15, Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main will be held between July 18-23 and the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) will be conducted on July 26.

“Many states are not in favour of conducting board examinations at all and have suggested that marking in the remaining papers be done on the basis of averaging of other papers and internal assessment done in schools earlier as calling students on examination centres amid rising Covid-19 cases can be very risky,” an official said, as quoted by a daily.

“In such a scenario, the ministry too feels that the board examinations be cancelled and a final decision is likely to be announced by Monday,” he added.

On Friday, Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal met Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the issue and is scheduled to meet these issues Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday evening about the same.

Maharashtra, Delhi and Odisha had earlier asked the Centre to consider cancelling the board examinations.

The CBSE had on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it will "very shortly" take appropriate decision on the issue raised in a plea which has sought quashing of the notification for conducting remaining examinations of Class XII from July 1 to July 15 amid the increase in number of COVID-19 cases across the country.

The top court was hearing a plea, filed by some parents of students who are appearing in class XII examination, which has sought a direction to CBSE to declare the results on the basis of exam already conducted and to calculate it on an average basis with internal assessment marks of remaining subjects.

The bench, while taking into account the submissions of the board's counsel, posted the matter for hearing on June 23.

Raising concern over the safety of lakhs of students, the plea has said that they might be exposed to COVID-19 infection if they have to appear in the examinations amid the increase in number of cases of virus infection.

It has urged the apex court to quash the May 18 notification of the CBSE by which the date sheet for remaining exams of Class XII was declared and also to stay it till the plea is decided by the court.