90% of the states in the nation are in favor to hold the class board exams, as per Deputy CM of Uttar Pradesh, Dinesh Sharma. However, many leaders have come forward with one condition. That is “First vaccination and then examination”. After the high-level meeting on May 23, 2021, between the center and states, the individual states have been sending their master plan to hold the boards amidst the pandemic.
With most of the states on board to hold the class 12 examinations, several leaders demand Covid-19 vaccination be completed before the students can take the exams.
Such leaders are ex-CM of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav; Samajwadi Party MLC Udaiveer Singh; Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia; and Punjab education minister Vijay Inder Singla.
Ex-CM of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav tweeted “पहले टीका फिर परीक्षा, No Examination Without Vaccination”. Meanwhile, the deputy CM of the state has announced that they have printed the papers, made sets of decoded copies, and have allocated 8,513 centers to follow social distancing during examinations. Now, UP is analysing the COVID situation. A final call on the exam dates will be taken by this month.
Samajwadi Party MLC Udaiveer Singh also demanded vaccination for the students. He was reported saying, “The central government should not play with lives of students.”
Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia wrote a letter to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal. In this regard, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia has asked the center to consult with experts that whether or not the class 12 students can be given the Covishield and Covaxin jabs. 95% of the class 12 students in the nation are above the age of 17.5 years. He has also asked the state to look into the matter that whether or not Pfizer vaccine jabs can be given to this age group as their trials on the children have been already done.
“If Centre and state government get on the task together, all Class 12 students and teachers involved in the examination process can be vaccinated within three to four weeks”, added Manish Sisodia in the letter.
Punjab education minister Vijay Inder Singla has said: “The union government should provide COVID vaccines to all states before taking a decision on examinations of class 12 students.”
Apart from that, states like Assam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Meghalaya have also put forward the same suggestion to the central government. They have exhorted the central government to vaccinate teachers and students on priority to ensure their safety during the board exams to be held at various centers.
However, many medical experts have been reported to say the until the vaccines are licensed via all means they cannot be rushed for use in the age group of 2 to 18 years. Only Pfizer vaccines are available for the age group above 12, however, it is not ready to be used in India yet.
In the high-level meeting, CBSE proposed two 2 options in front of the states. A) Conducting regular exams for 19 major subjects and in the rest of the subjects, the students can be given marks based on their performances in these 19 subjects. B) Conducting shorter duration objective type exams at respective schools where the students are enrolled between July 15 to August 26 and declare the result by September.
The majority of the state have chosen the B option, but have hammered on the notion of “Vaccination or cancellation”.
