Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is likely to announce the final Class 12 objective criteria for an assessment today, June 14, 2021, by 4:00 pm. It is speculated that Class 10 and 11 marks may also be considered along with marks secured in Class 12 preliminary board exams. Additionally, pre-board marks may be given maximum weightage while assessing students for the current academic year 2020-21. While these are mere speculations, the final decision shall be known today, bring a halt to the unending doubts that students have about the objective criteria.
According to reports, the central education board is yet to arrive at a consensus and are still considering all the options available. Sources from the Ministry of Education have stated that a final call is likely to be taken today on or before 4:00 pm. Once the criteria have been finalised, the same shall be informed to the Supreme Court in the next hearing. The court had already expressed its satisfaction on the CBSE’s decision to cancel the Class 12 board exams.
To decide the objective criteria, CBSE formed a 12-member committee which comprises of the joint secretary of Ministry of Education, Department of School Education and Literacy, Udit Prakash Rai, Vipin Kumar, a member of the Directorate of Education, commissioner KVS Nidhi Pandey, two school representatives and people representing NCERT. Even individuals representing UGC are also a part of the committee. At the previous court hearing, CBSE had stated that a final decision regarding the objective criteria in the following 10 days.
As of now, there has been no substantial clarity on what the evaluation criteria shall be. However, sources suggest that CBSE is considering the option of using Class 11, 10 and 9 marks for evaluation as well. Along with this, internal assessments and practical marks shall also be considered.
On June 01, 2021, CBSE announced the cancellation of Class 12 board exams due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was announced after a review meeting conducted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Previously, the education board was planning on conducting the board exams in mid-July or August 2021. A total of 32 states and UTs were also in favour of the decision. However, due to the stress and chaos conducted by the pandemic, the board exams were eventually cancelled.
According to PM Modi, students shall be evaluated based on “well-defined objective-criteria in a time-bound manner”. However, further clarity is awaited on this subject. Moreover, CBSE and other state boards must take a call as soon as possible so as to not delay the admission process for the upcoming academic year 2021-22.
