In another highly anticipated live webinar, Education Minister, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank went live today, on Twitter and Facebook. In the live meet, the minister address queries and suggestions from teacher, which were submitted under #EducationMinisterGoesLives. It was expected that CBSE board dates 2021, NEET 2021 exam date, etc. shall be announced today. However, it was not disclosed but Dr Pokhriyal did provided few important information.
In the webinar, the Education Minister of India basically covered 6 very important points which are:
CBSE board exams in February – One of the biggest announcements on board exams 2021 is that the Education Minister has confirmed that CBSE class 10th and 12th exam 2021 will not be held after February-March. Answering a query of a teacher on postponement of the board exams, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal assured teachers and students that the board exams will not be held in January- February. He said that the exam will only be held after February. The authorities will soon announce exam date and month for the board exams.
CBSE board practical exams are generally conducting in January- February, whereas, the theory exam starts from March onwards. Currently, most of the schools have not re-opened and practical curriculum in most of the institutes have not even been started. Looking at this, the exam shall now be held on or after March 2021.
Syllabus will not be reduced further – Answering a query, the Education Minister informed that the syllabus of CBSE boards exams shall not be reduced further. As of now, the syllabus has already been reduced by CBSE, Maharashtra Board, and UP Board. There shall be no further reduction in the syllabus.
No one month gap for board exams – During the webinar, one of the students requested Mr. Pokhriyal to give a month gap to prepare for the board exam. However, addressing this concern, Mr. Pokhriyal explained that since the board exams are not going to be held in January-February, students are already getting 2 extra months for preparation. Hence, there is no need for another one month gap and delay.
Board exams cannot be held online – When a teacher from Madhya Pradesh asked, “Why board exams cannot be held in online mode even though we are conducting online classes and most of the students are attending virtual classes?” The Education minister explained that there are so many regions and villages that are not yet touched by the Internet or technology, it is not possible. He further explained that due to megaphones at central points of panchayat, somehow the online classes are being held in these remote areas but to take the test is not feasible. It has to be ensured that every student gets equal opportunity, so the exams will be held in offline mode only.
32 Swayam Prabha’s channels available on television – During the meet, he also highlighted that students who cannot access online classes due to lack of digital mediums, need not worry. There are 32 Swayam Prabha’s channels which are available on various TV network platforms. Additionally, students can also take part in radio classes which are being held from time-to-time. There are around 800 radio programs for the students. Since not every student has the facility of the Internet, we are trying to reach them out using Television and radio programs.
Depression among students not ignore -A query was on how to combat depression among students. To this, Ramesh Pokhriyal said that more than 500 psychiatrists have been made available to the students. Also, a program has been launched by the government, which is ‘My book my friend’ using which students have utilized this difficult time wisely. He also added that ‘even today there are around 300 psychiatrists helping thousands of teachers and students to protect them from the mental stress’.
