Principals Of CBSE Board Schools React On Decision To Cancel Class 12th Exams

Vivek Prakash

Pune, 4th June 2021: Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic second wave, where the country is struggling with a huge number of cases and scarcity of resources to cope with it, the Ministry of Education has decided to cancel the class 12 final exams. Class 10 board exams were already cancelled earlier.

For CBSE class 10 students, the result will be prepared on the basis of an “objective criterion” which is already declared by CBSE. Results are being prepared accordingly. The CBSE 12th marking scheme and ISC evaluation criteria will be released soon. The Supreme Court has asked CBSE and CISCE to submit their assessment criteria in two weeks.

Punekar News in association with Athos Edusolutions spoke with various school principals and collected their viewpoint regarding the decision. Athos Edusolutions is a Pune-based company that conducts an inter-school competitive exam ‘Brainathon’ and provides career guidance to students via various activities and seminars.

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Anita Sharma, Principal of Army Public School Pune, “The CBSE decision to cancel its Class XII Board Examination, in light of the surge in Covid-19 cases, was met with jubilation and was applauded by most of the parents as well as students. The past year, because of the pandemic, has been extremely challenging for both the teaching fraternity and the students. The students have adapted beautifully to the new normal as well as to the move from the physical schools to the online medium. In these unprecedented times, this is the best decision taken towards minimising the risk of spreading the coronavirus among students, teachers and employees of the school and their immediate families.

It was but an imperative step because of the alarming rise in the number of daily cases in the country. The ‘new normal’ education system has opened doors for blended learning which is going to stay in the future and is not just a stop-gap arrangement. I understand that it was hard to spend the last year of school at home and miss out on all the fun and leadership opportunities.

If anything came good out of these long months of disruption, it’s that both teachers and parents had the opportunity to appreciate the importance of a strong home/ school partnership built on trust. Parents have become more involved than ever before in their child’s learning. They have played a more significant role in the learning and development of their children than they have done traditionally.

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Thank you, dear parents, for commending and appreciating teachers for imparting lessons to students on a platform unknown to them earlier but at which they are gaining expertise. We will continue to focus on meeting learning objectives, leveraging student access to tools and resources and providing the academic and social-emotional support our students need.

I would urge the students not to give up on the preparation of today, as it will be beneficial for the results of tomorrow. You might be feeling stressed, overwhelmed and confused, I understand that, but keep going. There will be choices, twists and turns in your path. Sometimes things will work out exactly as you thought and sometimes things will be different. It is in the unexpected that the magic happens so take notice of your disappointments, they are often opportunities disguised as something else. In these tough times, it is crucial to remain resilient and optimistic.”

Jyotsna Mishra, Director, Alard Public School, Pune said, “With the cancellation of the class XII CBSE Board exam, the Prime Minister has taken an appropriate decision, by giving top priority on the health of the students than forthcoming exams. Also, this will reduce the stress of the students as it provides ample time to prepare for the upcoming competitive examination.

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But CBSE has to plan for a moderation policy that will comfort the students. Normally, in the Pre-Board exams school does strict marking to enable further improvements for the final exam. Also every year, the students try to do better than the previous year. If the result is at par with the reference year then the good students may suffer. So authorities will have to devise some criteria by considering all the aspects.”

“The children of class 12 will finally heave a sigh of relief. They have been in this state of limbo for such a long time! Though the decision of scrapping the board exams is most prudent, results, when calculated by moderation based on performance at school, cannot be at par with board results. But keeping in mind the present conditions, this is the best decision that could have been taken”, said Paramita Nandy, Principal of Army Public School, Dehuroad.

“In the current scenario, the safety of the students is more important. Let us all consider this year as a very unusual year of pandemic hence we should be ready for the unusual way of dealing with it. I am sure the higher studies path will also be considerate of the situation and time. We need to remember that yes the scores matter, but the impact comes from the knowledge and the attitude which will take the individuals ahead”, said Sangeeta Kapoor, Principal of the Orchids School, Baner.

A mixed reaction was observed majorly as the primary focus should be the health, safety and wellbeing of our esteemed future of the country.

“Cancellation of class XII CBSE Exam is a welcome step taken by the government. Conducting the exam in such a condition could put many students, teachers and education fraternity at risk. On the other hand, many students focus more on other competitive exams during that period and only study for their final board exams. These students can be at a disadvantage. But I strongly believe-‘Health is Wealth’ and we need to safeguard our future so that a strong and healthy nation can emerge as JAGADGURU”, said Bhavana Rai, Principal of Bharati Vidyapeeth, Balewadi.

“I feel the decision to be unfortunate but the need of the hour. As coronavirus infections are still out of control in major parts of the nation, it becomes our utmost priority to safeguard our children. Students are more relaxed now so they can calmly decide about their future and prepare accordingly. Entrance exams will be conducted sooner or later therefore they should utilise the precious time for its preparation. It will be a complex task for the Education Boards to formulate a way to decide upon result preparation but I am sure they will come up with a student-friendly solution”, said Somyaranjan Dass, Founder-Director of Athos Edusolutions.

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