Students, parents and teachers react over CBSE Board Exams decision

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Wednesday cancelled class 10 exams and postponed class 12 exams in view of a surge in COVID-19 cases. However, the government decision received a mixed response from the students as well as from parents.

New Delhi: Amid rising coronavirus cases in the country, Board Exams for Class 10th have been cancelled and 12th exams have been postponed after a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

This comes after demands for the cancellation of board exams were being raised from various quarters. Over 2 lakh students had also signed an online petition demanding cancellation of board exams and the hashtag "cancelboardexams" has also been trending on Twitter for a week.

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank clarified that the students of class 10th will be promoted on basis of internal assessment. If the student not satisfied with the internal assessment then can give an examination once the situation returns to normal.

However, the government decision received a mixed response from the students and the parents.

Some of the students welcome the government decision while some urged the Union Education Minister to reconsider the decision.

To know the perspective of the student and parents over the government's decision, ETV Bharat interacted with them.

Diya, a student of class X, has welcomed the decision and said, " I am happy that the government has paid heed to the requests of over lakhs of students. Now, we can prepare for our next goal freely as well as confidently."

Ayush Sparsh, who has been preparing for his board exams for the last year said that decision came as a big disappointment for him. "It seems that the government has painted all the students with the same brush. I have been preparing for the examination for the last 14 months. And now, the government has cancelled the papers. All of us will be judged on the basis of internal assessment. So, what is the difference between my hard work and the one who has not prepared for anything?", added Sparsh.

When asked parents about the government's decision, they also shared a mixed response.

Gayatri, a parent, whose daughter has been preparing for the board examination, said, "As a parent, I feel the CBSE has taken the right decision at this pandemic era as the students have been going through a mental trauma for the examination. This will definitely release the burden of the students as well as the parents whose wards are going to write the board exams."

While, Bindu Mishra, a mother of a class 12 student, said that the delay in the examination will act as a burden and trauma for the students. "At least government should clear their stance. The delay in the examination will work as a mental trauma for the students."

Several political leaders also demanded the cancellation

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia had on Tuesday appealed to the Centre to cancel the exams, saying it can contribute to a large scale spread of the coronavirus.

Last week, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had urged Union Education Minister Pokhriyal to intervene and direct CBSE to reconsider its decision to go ahead with the board examinations in May despite the "massive and uncontrolled" rise in COVID-19 cases.

The Shiv Sena had also written to the education ministry, requesting the government to develop a national consensus and possibly reschedule classes 10 and 12 CBSE and other board exams.

States including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab have already announced changes in plans for board exams.

Schools across the country were closed in March last year to contain the spread of COVID-19 ahead of a nationwide lockdown.

Several states started reopening the schools partially from October last year, but physical classes are again being suspended in view of the exponential rise in coronavirus cases.

Last year, the board exams had to be postponed mid-way in March. They were later cancelled and the results were announced on the basis of an alternative assessment scheme.

India reported a record single-day rise of over 1.84 lakh new coronavirus infections, according to the Union Health Ministry's data on Wednesday.