Delaying 12th board exams will hamper UG Admissions, plans to study abroad: Principals

First Option

The proposed first option says that the exams be conducted at designated centres for 19 major subjects. For minor subjects, assessment can be based on performance in major subjects. This can be done if three months time period is clearly and safely available to the board. August 2021 could be a likely month for holding the exams and the whole process is likely to go on till September end, an official said.

Second Option

As per the official, in the second option, the exams can be conducted twice by the board depending upon the COVID-19 situation (if conducive). If a student is unable to appear due to any COVID-related matter, he or she will be provided with another opportunity to sit for exams. “The exams will be of 90 minutes duration instead of 3 hours and will be conducted in same schools where students are enrolled. The questions will be objective and very short answer type. Students will have to appear in one language and three elective subjects”, he further said. The tentative timeline for this option is the first phase of exams from July 15 to August 1, 2021, and the second phase from August 8 to 26, 2021. Exams are proposed to be conducted on Sundays also.

Rajat Goel, Director, MRG School, Rohini said that delaying the board examinations till August is likely to cause a ripple effect in the education space, as "The delay would lead to a delay in college applications, admissions and the start of the new academic year. If there won’t be enough gap between the board exams and university entrances, then the students won’t get time to prepare for their entrance exam." “We all are aware that the COVID-19 situation is highly unpredictable, we can never be sure about the situation at that time. Keeping this in mind, delaying the exam and hence the result is not suggestive. Delaying the examinations, again and again, puts the students under constant mental pressure which can have adverse effects”, he further said.  Pallavi Upadhyaya, Principal of DPS-RNE Ghaziabad said, “I still feel there should not be any board exams this year. If the examination is going to be conducted offline, then whether the paper is going to be for 3 hours or 90 minutes, would be immaterial as the virus needs only seconds to infect. Also, there is a talk of a third wave of the pandemic which we understand would affect the children more. So, is it wise to expose them?”, she questioned.