Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Board Exams 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected educational systems worldwide, leading to the total closures of schools, collages and universities all over the world. As we know most of the governments decided to temporarily close educational institutions in an attempt to reduce the spread of  the virus among students.

As of 12 January 2021 report, approximately 825 million students are affected due to school closures in response to the pandemic. According to UNICEF monitoring, 23 countries are currently implementing nationwide closures and 40 are implementing local closures, impacting about 47 percent of the world’s student population.

As per Wikipedia reports in March 2020, Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) announced a statement of the cancellation of Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge O Level, Cambridge International AS & A Level, Cambridge AICE Diploma, and Cambridge Pre-U examinations for the May/June 2020 series across the countries. School closures impact not only students, teachers, and families, but also have severe economic and societal consequences.

Since the COVID -19 pandemic has disrupted the normal lifestyle of people across the globe, the virtual world has come to the rescue. Amongst many institutions schools have also shifted their base to virtual platforms to conduct classes online. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO recommended the use of distance learning programmes and open educational applications and platforms that schools and teachers can use to reach learners remotely and limit the disruption of education.

Challenges in Indian education system due to Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic created a lot of challenges in the Indian education system. Though online pedagogy does a great job of supplementing offline education, however it does not serve as the latter’s replacement. This holds especially true in a developing economy such as India for several reasons.

• Using the internet for entertainment is common in metros and small cities, but for online lessons is a big challenge. Teachers may not be well-versed with creating digital content, and conveying it effectively online. A sudden expectation from them to upgrade and from students to adapt it is not possible.
• As a result board exams and also competitive exams are postponed or completely canceled by the ministry of education or institutions itself.

Also read | An analysis of COVID-19 Impacts On Indian Education System, Educational Resurgence Journal Volum2.

Board Exams 2021

CBSE: After the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Education has decided to postpone the CBSE class 12 exams and cancel the class 10 board exams. However, many parents, teachers and students are However, many parents, teachers and students are calling for the cancellation of Class 12 exams and reaching out to the government and calling for the cancellation of Class 12 exams aa well. The Board will, however, take a final call on postponing and conducting the class 12 exams after reviewing the coronavirus situation in June.

Universities: The Ministry of Education has written a letter to central universities, IITs, IIITs and other CFTIs asking them to postpone all the offline exams scheduled in May. As the COVID-19 cases are rising at an alarming rate CBSE, CISCE, IB and several state boards have either cancelled or postponed the class 10 and 12 Board Exams 2021.

Maharashtra : MSBSHSE has cancelled class 10th board exams and has postponed class 12th exams amid the spike in COVID-19 cases. The criteria on which class 10 students will be passed will be announced later.

Delhi: Delhi government have postponed class 9th and 11th exams. The revised date sheet will be announced as soon as the situation is under control. While class 10th and 12th exams have been cancelled and postponed respectively. The capital has declared summer vacation from April 20 till June 9.

CISCE: The board has cancelled the 10th board exams and have also withdrawn the option for students to later appear for the exam if not satisfied with school results. While class 12th exams have been postponed, and the revised date sheet will be released after June 1.

Goa: The state government has postponed the class 10th and 12th board exams after witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases in the state. The revised date sheet will be announced after the pandemic situation is under control.

Madhya Pradesh: MPBSE has postponed class 10th and 12th board exams till May 30. On June 1, they will review the situation in the state and then will release the date sheet. It is believed by June end the state board will conclude the board exams.

Uttar Pradesh: The UP board has postponed the class 10th and 12th board exams 2021. Not just this, the state government have also postponed the college and universities semester exams.

Odisha: The state government have cancelled class 10th board exams and have postponed class 12th exams. Class 10th students will be assessed based on an objective criterion.

Punjab: PSEB has cancelled class 10th exams and has postponed class 12 exams. The state board has promoted the class 5,8 and 10 students to the next class based on internal assessments.

Haryana: The state government has cancelled class 10th exams and have postponed class 12th board exams. Class 12th revised date sheet will be announced after 1st June. Meanwhile, the state has declared summer vacation from April 22 to May 31.

Chhattisgarh: The state board has cancelled class 10 exams and have postponed class 12 board exams till further notice. Around June 1 state board might release the date sheet after reviewing the situation.

Jammu and Kashmir: The state board has postponed the ongoing class 10 board exams and have promoted them to the next class based on internal assessment. While the ongoing class 12 exams have been postponed till further notice.

Rajasthan: The state board have postponed class 10 and 12 board exams till May 30. The revised date sheet will be announced after June 1 review meeting. Meanwhile, students of classes 8, 9 and 11 have been promoted to the next class with exams.

Gujarat: The state board government have postponed the class 10 and 12 boards exams and have promoted the students from class 1-9 and class 11 to the next class based on internal assessments. Class 10 and 12 exam’s revised date sheet will be announced after reviewing the situation.

Himachal Pradesh: HPBOSE has postponed class 10, and 12’s the remaining board papers. The exams commenced on April 13, 2021.

Jharkhand: The state board has postponed the class 10 and 12 board exams. The revised date sheet will be announced after June 1 reviewing meeting regarding the COVID-19 situation in the state.

Telangana: The state board has cancelled the class 10 exams and have postponed class 12 board exams till May 30. The revised date sheet will be announced in the first week of June after reviewing the situation.

Assam: The state education minister has said that they will announce the final decision regarding the postponement of Matric Exams in the next 10 days.

Arunachal Pradesh: The state government have no plans to postpone the board exams. The board has assured the students that they will be taking the necessary measures.

These states have not postponed the Board Exams 2021

However, there are some states such as Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttarakhand among others who have still not postponed their board exams despite students request to the state government.

West Bengal: The state government has not taken any decision on postponing the board exams. The exams are scheduled to be held from June 1 and will conclude by the end of the month.

Karnataka: No change in the schedule has been announced by the state. The state government will be conducting the second PUC Exam from May 24, while the class 10 board exams will commence from June 21.

Uttarakhand: The state board has no plans to postpone class 10 and 12 board exams, the exams will be conducted as per schedule.

[ Source: Wikipedia, India today, DNA India ]