Following in the footsteps of the Central Board of Secondary Education, Uttarakhand has now cancelled the UBSE Class 12 board exams 2021 on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. As per reports, the Uttarakhand Minister for School & Sanskrit Education, Arvind Pandey broke the news today on the microblogging website Twitter.
The Uttarakhand Class 12 board exams 2021 was earlier scheduled to be held from May 04 to 22, 2021. However, considering the pandemic situation, the state government decided to postpone the exam to April 2021. While most other states have already followed suit with the CBSE and cancelled the Class 12 board exams this year, the Uttarakhand Board of Secondary Education waited till now for a final decision.
As per latest reports, the UBSE will decide on assessment criteria for the promotion of registered students very soon. The alternative assessment scheme will be announced in due course of time after the UBSE has finalized the decision. Reports state that more than 2 lakh candidates were registered with the UBSE to appear in Class 10 and Class 12 board exams in the state this year. While the Class 10 exams were already cancelled earlier in April, the state government waited to take the final decision regarding the fate of Class 12 board exams till now.
This year has been detrimental toward the conduct of annual board exams throughout the nation due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the CBSE scrapping the Class 12 boards in June, most other states followed suit save a few. Among those who will be conducting the Board exams this year in Assam. On the other hand, Chhattisgarh has decided to conduct the Class 12 board exams in a centreless manner. Even national education boards like CISCE and NIOS have also cancelled their class 12 board exams this year. Uttrakhand Board of Secondary Education is the latest state to add to the list.
Most recently, Jharkhand Academic Council also called for the Class 12 board exams in view of the pandemic situation this year. Chief Minister of the state Hemant Soren tweeted that the board exams have been called off as the situations are not conducive to conduct offline exams this year. The decision has received mixed reactions. While Mahip Singh, Secretary of the Jharkhand Academic Council applauded the decision, several students have responded to the Minister’s tweet that the decision is wrong as they have worked hard for the board exams.
Now that the Uttarakhand Board of Secondary Education has also followed suit, candidates are advised to be vigilant on the official website for further updates. The board is expected to decide on the alternative assessment criteria and announce a final decision very soon.