Delhi govt urges Centre to pass Class 10, 12 board students based on internal exams

New Delhi - The central minister directed the states to start evaluating answer sheets of the board exams for classes 10 and 12.

Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday suggested promoting the Class 10 and 12 students on the basis of their internal exams performance as it will not be feasible to conduct the remaining board exams anytime soon.
Sisodia, who is also Delhi's Education Minister, made the suggestion during a video conference hosted by Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' with state education ministers.
Noting that at least 83 papers, including 26 important papers for the board classes, were remaining, he said: "It will not be possible to carry out the remaining exams of Class 10th and 12th in the Central
Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE), so children should be passed on the basis of the internal exams as the children of Class 9th and 11th have passed."
Seeking to explain the rationale of not conducting any further board exam this year, Sisodia said that due to the need of social distancing, it will not be feasible to conduct remaining exams for Class 10 and 12 students even in May-June. "Having exams thereafter will heavily delay the next academic cycle."
Other states have their own boards but Delhi has the CBSE as its board. Most students of CBSE come from Delhi, he said.
"Therefore, I appeal to the Union HRD Minister that CBSE be asked to take a similar route for promoting the students as it proposed for classes 9 and 11," Sisodia said.
HRD Minister Pokhriyal had called a meeting with the education ministers of the states and the Union Territories to take stock of the status of the ongoing online education system for students amid the lockdown.
The central minister directed the states to start evaluating answer sheets of the board exams for classes 10 and 12. "The evaluation process must begin and states must facilitate CBSE to evaluate answer sheets of the students in their respective states," Pokhriyal said at the meeting.
The CBSE had earlier this month announced that it will be conducting pending board exams for only 29 subjects, which are crucial for promotion and admission in undergraduate programmes.
However, there is no clarity on when exams will be conducted even as the HRD Ministry has assured that students will be given at least a 10-day notice before the conduct of exams.
Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16 when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

• India