Adequate time would be given to the students preparing for the CBSE board exams for Classes 10 and 12 to be held next year, said Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.The Minister clarified on Thursday that there is no compulsion to conduct examinations in March. Parents across the country have urged the Senior Secondary Board to conduct the board examinations for 2021 in May.Nishank said, "Students will be given ample time for preparation based on the new pattern on which the exam would be conducted. There is no compulsion to conduct the exams in March. Keeping in view the coronavirus pandemic, the scheduled dates for the exam will be fixed. Practical exams will not be held clashing with the dates of any entrance exam.""Practical exams in the CBSE board are held at the school level. If a situation arises that the students cannot go to laboratories for practicals then it will be difficult to conduct the examination and the Central government will consider further steps to resolve the issue," Nishank added.
On reopening all schools the Minister said, "The School Education department and Literacy department have issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and released other specific guidelines for reopening the schools. These guidelines pertain to health and safety and maintaining physical and social distancing. Apart from this, given the current health scenario, the concerned state governments will take a decision in the matter."Addressing a live session with students, teachers and parents across the country, Nishank said that the CBSE has reduced the syllabus by 30 percent for the 2021 board examinations. The word 'fail' has been removed from the marksheet and no student would be considered as failed.Nishank gave a detailed talk on examinations and education-related issues during the live interaction with teachers, parents and students in the 21st edition of Shiksha Samvaad.He said, "After the previous year's dialogue a lot has changed over this year such as declaration of board exam results, many students have also participated in several competitive examinations, the cutoff lists of all colleges have been released and the new academic session has also started.""The way we have successfully moved forward by adopting change, the entire credit goes to the overall education system in the country. "