The Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) is soon expected to announce the HS 2nd Year or Class 12 Board Exam 2022 schedule. As per several reports, Class 12 state board exams are likely to be conducted in the March-April 2022 period. In anticipation of upcoming board exams, the All India JEE-NEET Students Association (AIJNSA) has written a letter to AHSEC, requesting certain relaxations in the board pattern and syllabus.
The letter clearly articulates the current situation of Class 12 students and their requirements. It has also been shared by AIJNSA’s northeast wing on Twitter via the official handle @AIJNSA_NE. Here’s a summary of all points mentioned in the letter –

Situation of AHSEC 2nd Year Students
According to AIJNSA’s letter, the country is currently suffering from the 3rd wave of COVID-19 with the daily number of infections increasing exponentially. Under such circumstances, it will be difficult for lakhs of students to appear for the exam in the conventional offline manner.
Due to the 2nd wave of COVID-19, lectures last year were mostly held through the online mode, creating disruptions in education. This affected the transmission of information leading to a lack of conceptual clarity of the Class 11 syllabus. This is further making it difficult for Class 12 students to understand their current chapters. So, they have no choice but to study both the Class 11 and 12 syllabus at the same time.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) decided on reducing the syllabus for Class 10 and 12 board exams. So, students are expected to study only 70% of the syllabus which has been further bifurcated into two terms. However, AHSEC is yet to take any such syllabus reduction steps for either Class 10 or 12 students.

In case the COVID-19 situation worsens within 10-15 days prior to the AHSEC Class 12 board exams, it would be impractical for candidates to give the exams in the offline mode. Irrespective of their vaccination status, there is no guarantee of students not getting infected with the virus while commuting to the exam center. If infected with the virus, the performance of candidates in the remaining exams will be jeopardized.
Conversely, if the Class 12 board exams are canceled, it would be unfair to evaluate students on the basis of marks obtained in pre-boards since the paper difficulty may vary for each institution. Additionally, certain schools and institutions are not able to complete the syllabus on time, apparently showing disregard for the upcoming board exams and obvious time crunch.

After describing the issues being faced by students in Assam, AINJSA has requested the state board to look into this matter to either provide a reduction in the syllabus or alternate evaluation criteria, in case the COVID-19 situation worsens in the country.