CBSE Class 10, 12 board exams will not be held in Jan and Feb; dates to be decided later

Union Education Minister Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on December 22 cleared the confusion regarding CBSE Board examinations for Class 10 and 12 and announced that no exams would be held in January and February 2021. However, he ensured that the Class 10 and 12 board exams are not cancelled a schedule will be decided after February 2021. While holding a live discussion on CBSE Board examinations named #EducationMinisterGoesLive and interacting with teachers regarding the upcoming board examinations amid COVID-19, the Education Minister also said that they will be conducted offline. 

“The Classes 10 and 12 CBSE board exams 2021 will not be held in January and February. The exact exam schedule will be decided after February 2021,” said Ramesh Pokhriyal.

“Cancelling exams and promoting students without exam will put a stamp on these students. These students might face trouble in getting jobs and admissions at higher education level in future as they would be termed as COVID-era students. We do not want that for our students,” he added.

CBSE Board Exams to be held offline

After saying that cancelling exams and promoting students without one would “put a stamp” on those specific candidates, the Education Minister noted that availability of a laptop along with constant internet connection poses a challenge for several students. Pokhriyal acknowledged that even though this year’s curriculum incorporated online schooling, it might have not been fair to all the students set to appear for board examinations in 2021. Therefore, CBSE Class 10 and 12 Board exams will be held offline.

“A percentage of students do not have equal access to education. While we have used unique methods to teach students but having such methods for exams might not be fair,” he added while talking about conducting offline exams.

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Pokhriyal's announcement on JEE Main 2021

Earlier, The Joint Entrance Examination or JEE Main 2021 will be conducted four times in 2021, said Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on December 16 in a statement. The JEE Main 2021 will take place in February, March, April and May for students to have multiple attempts and a 'wide-area' for preparation and rectifying the mistakes without the loss of a whole year. He said that in 2021, the joint engineering exams will take place from February 23 to February 26.

The current Livestream with teachers over Class 10 and 12 board examinations came nearly ten days after Pokhriyal congratulated the ministers and other officials for successfully conducting board and competitive exams amid the coronavirus pandemic. He noted that this year amidst the challenges, 5.1 per cent more students had applied for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET exam. The Union Minister also said that the Education Ministry has increased the number of exam centres this year to fulfil the needs of social distancing while giving the exams.

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