School principals not in favor of postponing CBSE Board Exams 2021

Amid Covid-19, several school principals in Delhi and adjoining areas are not in favor of postponing CBSE Board exams 2021 due to the closure of schools. They believe that the postponement of the board exams will not be appropriate as it will have a direct impact on the schedule of higher education entrance exams, and the admission process as well, which will further lead to distress for students.

The Delhi government had last month written to CBSE to not conduct the board exams next year before May, and that CBSE should reduce the syllabus as schools continue to remain closed.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had also raised the issue at NCERT’s council meeting last month chaired by Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

“Postponing the board exams can have some serious repercussions on the students’ growth and performance preparing via remote learning. As this session was attributed to getting familiar with remote learning tools, by both the students and teachers,” said Priyanka Barara, Principal, Delhi International School, reported by PTI.

“With no concrete update on vaccines, we don’t see parents allowing their wards to return to school. Therefore, we would not like to repeat the pattern of losing time again by supporting the delay in board exams,” she further added., reported by PTI.

Alka Kapur, Principal, Modern Public School, Shalimar Bagh, who is also the President of Delhi Sahodaya School Complex, said, a survey was conducted to get feedback from principals and teachers of over 100 schools, on the issue.

“We asked this very question that when should the examinations be conducted? By an overwhelming majority, the school authorities suggested that the board examinations should not be postponed beyond March 15. Also, the CBSE board result for class 12 and higher education entrance exams are interlinked, therefore postponement of exams any further could cause



unnecessary confusion.” She said, reported by PTI.

Kalpana Dwivedi, Principal St Joseph’s High School, CBSE Panvel, said, “the exams should not be postponed further, the theory portion will be completed in due time. And practical portion can be dealt with-in Jan-Feb 2021, hence, exams can be conducted in mid-March 2021 in consideration with the existing situation.”

“We see no reason for postponing the exams to May, as our teachers and students have now got accustomed to the virtual learning methods. We have already planned academic calendar in a manner that relevant attention has been directed towards timely completion of syllabus along with practice sessions and doubt resolving discussions with teachers,” she further added, reported by PTI.

Pallavi Upadhyaya, Principal, DPS-RNE Ghaziabad, said, “a detailed discussion was initiated among teachers, management, and parents for planning a systematic academic calendar in the remote learning academic session. Classes are being conducted and planned ever since to conduct board exams timely”.

“An extension would lead to a disturbance in the set schedule of students and teachers. The syllabus reduction has already been applied by the board, which has reduced the burden and compensated for the gap created due to no classroom interaction,” she added, reported by PTI.

Universities and schools across the country were ordered to shut down on March 16 to contain the spread of novel coronavirus. On March 25, the Centre announced a nationwide lockdown. While several restrictions have been eased gradually in different phases of the ‘unlock’ since June 8, educational institutions continued to remain closed.

However, according to the latest ‘Unlock 5’ guidelines, schools, colleges, and other educational institutions outside Covid-19 containment zones can reopen after October 15. The final decision on reopening the institutions has been left with the states and Union Territories.