Students Demand Cancelation of 12th Board Exams, Relaxation in College Admissions

A large section of class 12 students has taken to Twitter demanding for cancelation of board exams. Amid the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, students are demanding that their class 12 exams too should be canceled and marks should be given either on the basis of online exams or internal assessment like in the case of class 10 students. Several boards including CBSE, CISCE, and state boards have canceled the exams for class 10, however, for class 12 students there are no final dates on exams, yet.

Most boards have for now only postponed their exams and the final decisions will be announced after discussion between authorities on June 1. while announcing the cancelation of boards for class 10 students, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had said that the decision regarding class 12 students will be taken after reviewing the COVID situation across the country.

Demand for Relaxation of Board Exam Criterion for Admissions

Class 12 board exams are deemed critical because many colleges enroll students based on marks obtained in class 12 board exams. This year, like in 2020, the government has relaxed the class 12 criteria for admission to IITs, NITs, and several state-funded engineering institutes. This means that only entrance exam marks will be considered for admissions. Earlier, the minimum criteria for admission to IITs also including 75 per cent marks in class 12. Now, students just have to pass class 12 and crack the entrance test. This decision was taken in 2020 when not all board exams could be held and the Ministry of Education has recently said that it will uphold the same for the ongoing year as well.

Students now demand that a similar pattern should be adopted while admission to other undergraduate courses too.  A large section of students has taken to social media platforms to address their grievances, while earlier students had tweeted #cance12thboardexams2021, now another hashtag #SaveBoardStudents is trending. Many students have filed online petitions demanding support for the cancelation of board exams.

Online Exams for Online Classes

A petition on change.org demanding cancelation of board exams states, “The situation in India is getting worse day by day!! When there were only a few cases in the country they canceled the remaining board exams And now when the cases are at a peak they’re planning to open schools!!” The petition has as of May 10 gathered over 5.9 lakh signatures.

Another petition on the platform states, “after studying online why are they taking offline exams in such adverse health emergency situation.” It adds, “what about students’ safety? what about the students who tested positive during the offline board’s exam?” The petitioner asked, what if a student tests positive after giving some exams, would they be able to give rest exams later?. Such questions have raised anxiety among the student community who are awaiting final decisions on board exams.

Health Concerns a Major Worry

Students have raised concerns over the safety and health if the exams are held in offline mode. Several students have taken to Twitter and are Tweeted with #SaveBoardStudents

In 2020 too not all board exams could be held. For exams that could not take place, students were given marks based on the average of the highest marks obtained in exams held. This year, however, none of the exams could take place for most boards including CBSE, CISCE, Maharashtra Board, Rajasthan, UP, or any other state board. Only BSEB or Bihar Board has held both class 10 and 12 board exams and declared the results too for the same.

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