The Central Board of Secondary Examination had cancelled board exams for both Class 10th and Class 12th in view of the third wave of Covid-19. It has given assurance that an alternative assessment scheme will be released based on which all the students will be given grades.
On 21st June, 2021 CBSE said to the Supreme Court that though an alternative scheme has been released and students will be graded based on that and in spite of the new scheme, if students are not satisfied with their grades they will be given an option to appear in the Optional Class 12 Board Examinations which will be conducted between August 15 to September 15, 2021. Exams are conducted only for the main subjects. If the student is appearing for the optional examination then the marks obtained in that exam will be considered to be the final marks.
The results based on the new scheme will be announced by end of July, 2021 and later 15 days’ time will be given to the students to decide and an online form will be circulated and students who want to appear for the optional examination shall register themselves through those forms within the stipulated time.
A standard assessment policy will be given by the board but it can be modified by each school internally based on their activities and academic process. Hence, it cannot be compared with other schools. The policy will be formed internally and each school must decide in such a manner that all the students are benefitted. The advocates appearing for the petitioner had said that there is no uniformity in the assessment policy by CBSE and ICSE as both the boards have cancelled the exams, so the court must intervene in deciding the assessment policy to keep it standardized and also to benefit the students.
Parents were against the decision of cancelling the board exams in purview of Covid-19. They also suggested that when the situation is better, the examinations can be conducted then rather than being cancelled as Class 12 board exams decide the future of the students. But the Supreme Court has to hear both the views and a final decision of not conducting the exams was decided with an alternative scheme of evaluation. The board also has given the students the option of writing exams if not satisfied with the given grades.
