12 board exams decision again kept pending; Minister tested Covid positive
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had announced that the final decision on class 12 board exams will be announced on June 1. After months-long deliberation, the government has come up with three alternatives – option A: holding exams for only major subjects, option B: holding exams on a new format including short answer type questions, and option C: assessing students based on their performance in the past three academic years.
But, all goes in vain as Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has been admitted to AIIMS due to post-COVID complications, the education ministry had informed. He was taken to the hospital around 11:30 am and is admitted in a private ward.
The decision taken by the Education Minister will be implemented by CBSE and CISCE and other states are expected to follow suit. This would have been the last resort, however, considering the case is in Supreme Court, the government will have to explain to the SC what and why has it decided. In the latest hearing, SC has asked the government to come up with ‘a good reason’ to support its decision, if it decides to hold exams.
If the exams are not held, the board plans to announce results based on pre-boards and the average of the performance of students in final exams held in the past three years.
Class 12 exams are critical for college admissions where students from different boards and states apply.
Advocate Mamata Sharma had filed a plea in the Supreme Court demanding the cancelation of exams. The apex court has asked the government to come up with a ‘good reason’ as to why they want to deviate from last year’s plan to promote students without exams. The next hearing is scheduled to be held on June 3 and the government of India is expected to share the final decision regarding the class 12 board exams directly with the Supreme Court on Thursday – June 3
June 1,2021
