Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP) announced the cancellation of UP Class 12 board exams 2021 today, June 03, 2021. The same was announced today by the UP Deputy Chief Minister S Dinesh Suresh. The decision comes two days after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) cancelled the Class 12 board exams in light of the COVID19 pandemic. As soon as CBSE announced its decision, all eyes were on states to take a similar call. While states such as Karnataka, West Bengal and Assam are considering the option of conducting board exams, Uttar Pradesh has decided to follow the central government.
Yesterday, June 03, 2021, Deputy CM Dinesh Kumar released a video message stating that a decision on the UP Board exams shall be taken after conducting a review meeting with CM Yogi Adityanath. Following this, the chief minister gave a go-ahead today to the state education board UPMSP to cancel the Class 12 board exams. The state is also expected to follow similar criteria as CBSE for evaluating students. Thus, students in the state can expect more clarity on the evaluation methodology once CBSE announces their decision.
Previously, the board was prepared to conduct the Class 12 board exams. When the Union Government was venturing into the prospect of conducting offline exams, Uttar Pradesh was one of the 32 states and UTs to support this decision. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted a review meeting on June 01, 2021, regarding the impending board exams. Following this, two major central education boards, namely CBSE and CISCE scrapped their board exams.
In the video message, Kumar expressed his support towards the PM’s decision to cancel the board exams. He stated that the decision is taken keeping the interest of students in mind. Hence, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the state decided to cancel the board exams.
As of now, the COVID situation in the state has stabilised. Curbs and restrictions in 66 districts within UP have recently been lifted. However, the pandemic will still take time to stabilise. If the situation worsens, the board will have no choice but to cancel the Class 12 board exams, clarified Kumar. A day after posting this video message, Kumar confirmed the cancellation of UP board exams. Students are now waiting for the state to formulate alternate objective criteria to evaluate students. State and central education boards must quickly create appropriate evaluation methodology to not delay the higher education admission process.
Along with Class 12, UP Board has also cancelled final exams for Class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. These students shall be directly promoted to higher standards without conducting any written exams. This decision is applicable for schools affiliated with different education boards within Uttar Pradesh.
