The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is all set to conduct the Term 1 board examinations 2021. The date sheet for the upcoming examination has already been released on the official website – cbse.gov.in. Term 1 examinations will commence with the minor subjects for class 10 that will begin from November 16, 2021. Amidst all these, a major issue that has surfaced is the demands of the candidates for online examinations.
Taking to various social media platforms, students have stated that the examinations should be conducted in online mode due to health concerns. If the examinations are conducted offline, then it would lead to crowding and violation of COVID protocols. Moreover, the threats of the third wave of COVID-19 are looming and the vaccination process for the school students have not even started.
In this tweet, the user has expressed his disappointment against CBSE for not shifting to the online mode of examinations. The person questioned that if an online examination is not possible due to the accessibility of resources to every student, then why the classes were held online. In short, the user wanted to say that if the classes were held online, then the examinations should also be conducted online.
This year, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) is providing the facility of both online and offline examinations to its students. CBSE students have already claimed that it would be fair to hold online examinations if the classes were held online. However, a section of students is now seen to demand the facility to choose between online and offline examinations, like CISCE. In 2020, similar issues were raised and the board had to cancel the final examinations. This year, it is extremely unlikely that the exams will get cancelled because CBSE has already released the date sheet. However, whether the mode of holding the examination gets changed or not, is yet to be seen.
With the new bifurcated pattern of evaluation, schools are now gearing up to hold the pre-board examinations. As a result, there are likely to be four examinations: two pre-boards and the Terms 1 and 2 examinations. Although the board has reduced the syllabus, the focus will now be on preparing the students for the examinations. The two-terminal examinations will follow different patterns and hence, training the students will now be easy, a school principal said.
Similarly, parents have also insisted on the pre-board examinations. However, they feel that the new formula of holding examinations is likely to be stressful for the students. Nonetheless, these decisions by the board will provide the schools with a roadmap about the evaluation process.
