CBSE board exams would not be held till after February, exam dates not decided yet: Ramesh Pokhriyal

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) classes 10 and 12 exams will be held after February, said Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today during a virtual interaction with teachers. “The classes 10 and 12 board exams will not be held in January or February. The schedule will be decided after assessing the condition,” the minister said.

Pokhriyal was addressing teachers in a live online interaction through a social media platform. CBSE board exams are usually held in February-March, however, the timeline will be deferred this year.

Since this academic session has been held in the online mode entirely, there had been a lot of apprehensions in minds of students and teachers. The minister, however, announced that there will not be any online board exams. Citing the plight of students who do not have access to the internet, the minister said the exams will be held offline and efforts are on to ensure every



student has access to quality education during the pandemic through different modes.

He also said that the exams will be held on reduced syllabus. The central and state boards have announced a reduction in syllabus earlier. The minister too in an earlier live interaction had announced that in case schools continue to remain shut, there will be an alternative to the practical exams.

Apart from practical exams, holding pre-boards in an exam-like scenario was a major concern for students and academicians. The pre-boards will be held in online mode, however, the CBSE had announced to hold the exams in offline mode.

In his previous interaction, the minister had announced that the engineering entrance exam – JEE Main will be held four times a year from 2021 onwards to allow more flexibility for students. For this interaction too, stakeholders were asked to raise questions by writing to the minister using hashtag #EducationMinisterGoesLive.