The government seems receptive to the option of the CBSE to hold Class XII examinations in the same school, curtail time to 90 minutes with multiple choice questions and short questions being a part of the question paper.
Education Minister Govind Thakur has conveyed to the CBSE at a meeting that the state government is ready to conduct board exams, if the situation improves. The Education Department says that if the number of Covid cases goes down, there is a possibility of holding examinations after June 15.
The CBSE, which takes examinations of 115 subjects in Class XII, has also suggested that only examinations of 19 major subjects of science, commerce and arts be held and rest of the papers be marked as per the performance in these subjects.
The practical examination was completed in March and the Himachal Board of School Education had conducted the English theory examination on April 13 before the government decided to postpone the examinations in view of the surge in the Covid cases. However, insiders say that the final decision will be taken after the CBSE takes the call.
There are about 1.10 lakh students in Class XII. The syllabus is complete, practical examinations are already over, question papers are published and sent to 1,795 examination centres, said Director, Education, Amarjeet Sharma, adding, “We are ready to hold examinations and will follow the directions of the state government.”
Class XII is the career class after which students choose their fields. Last year also, several universities and colleges could not hold entrance tests due to Covid and admitted students on merit. The endeavour is to do justice with the students.
Meanwhile, about 1.16 lakh students of Class X have been promoted to Class XI without annual examination as per the CBSE guidelines and online classes have started.
