The Jammu and Kashmir Board of Secondary Education will not conduct the Class 11 and Class 12 board exams this year in light of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. An official tweet was made from the Office of the LG Jammu and Kashmir indicating that the state government has decided to follow suit after central education board like CBSE, CISCE and NIOS decided to cancel all board exams this year.
The official tweet reads, “In view of safety and well-being of students due to Covid pandemic, all pending JKBOSE Examinations session 2020-21 (Regular/Private) for final exams of class XI and XII across JKUT for which examination/results are awaited, are cancelled”. A screenshot of the official tweet can be found below.
As per latest reports, the detailed scheme for evaluation of merit of registered candidates and complete marking criteria is to be decided by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Secondary Education very soon, now that the exams has been cancelled.
Furthermore, as per latest updates, authorities in the state recently declared a 48 days long summer vacation for all elementary education institutes up to the level of Class 12. This includes all recognized private schools which are included within the summer division of Jammu. As per recent government directives in the state, all such schools within the summer zone have to observe the vacation from June 08, 2021, to July 25, 2021, based on previous practice.
It may be noted that earlier, following a high profile meeting of education ministers of the central as well as states of India, the CBSE proposed two alternatives to conduct the Class 12 board exams this year. Following through, there was a delay in the decision following the Union Education Minister’s deterioration of health earlier. The centre subsequently announced the cancellation of the Class 12 exams of the CBSE and other central education boards.
Currently, while most state education boards have followed through in broad consensus by cancelling the board exams, some states are going to conduct the board exams. This includes Assam and Chhattisgarh. On the other hand, states like Goa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana have decided to cancel the board exams this year on account of the pandemic situation.
While the exams have been cancelled, detailed procedure and methods for evaluation of the merit of candidates for promotion are being decided. As per the latest reports, the Supreme Court has directed national education boards to decide on evaluation criteria within 8 weeks. Similarly, JKBOSE is also expected to announce a detailed procedure for marking and evaluation very soon.
