Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) has announced the cancellation of 2nd-year intermediate exams or Class 12 board exams for the academic year 2020-21. The state government has also decided to promote all Class 11 students to Class 12, although the Class 11 exams will be conducted sooner or later, as per the latest reports.
The decision and subsequent announcement were confirmed through the latest government order dated June 14, 2021. Instead of conducting the Class 12 exams, the state shall use the pre-determined objective criterion to evaluate students and curate their mark sheets. It may be noted that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) decided to take a similar decision on June 01, 2021.
As per the latest government order dated June 14, 2021, the Telangana State government has decided to cancel the Class 12 board exams of the TSBIE considering the prevailing circumstance of the pandemic. The order has also confirmed that fact that pre-determined objective criteria will be adopted for evaluation of the merit of Class 12 students for the academic session 2020-2021. In addition, the Secretary of the Board of Intermediate Examination has been directed to issue official orders for promotion of all Class 11 students to Class 12 this year.
After CBSE’s decision, students were incessantly requesting various states including Telangana to cancel the Class 12 board exams amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As per reports, the TS inter 2nd-year exams were scheduled from May 01 to 19, 2021, but now stand cancelled.
Previously, the president of Telangana State Junior Lecturers Forum, P. Madhusudan Reddy, had commented that the state board had no other choice but to cancel the Class 12 board exams. Unofficially, the state has already made up its mind about cancelling the exam. Instead of offline exams, students shall be evaluated based on their 1st-year intermediate marks.
Reddy also clarified earlier that Telangana will be one of those states to follow the plan that CBSE decides. This stance was showcased even during the review meeting conducted by the union government on May 23, 2021.
Last year, a total of 3,74,492 students had appeared for the intermediate second-year exams. Out of the total students who appeared for the exam, 2,60,703 passed the exam. Thus, the overall pass percentage for the intermediate exams was 61.07%. those students who failed the board exams were also passed. The reason being that it was far too risky to conduct full-fledged supplementary exams at a later stage.
Previously, the Telangana state government cancelled the Class 10 board exams and subsequently, announced the SSC 2021 results on May 21, 2021. Rather than conducting offline exams, students were evaluated based on their performance in internal assessments. However, in the case of Class 12 students, the pre-determined objective criterion will be used.
