The postponement of the Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) Class 12 exams has become a source of tension for students who have applied and received offers for admission from universities abroad. Such students have now submitted a letter to the CBSE, requesting them to reconsider the decision. The board in a high-level meeting on Sunday had proposed to conduct the exams between 15 July and 26 August and to declare the results in September.
The CBSE, in the Sunday meeting, had also put two options on the table for conducting examinations: One was to conduct the exams only for major subjects while the other was to hold exams of a shorter duration. This was being proposed in view of the pandemic situation and the risk physical exams would carry for students who are mostly below the age of 18 and thus are ineligible to get vaccinated. While a final decision hasn’t been reached as yet, the study abroad aspirants fear they will lose admission seats in foreign universities if these proposals get implemented. In their letter to the board, the students say, “Under the present circumstances, it would not be possible to receive official passing certificate before July/ early August 2021; however, if it is not sent to the university, then offer might be rescinded and/or scholarship might be lost. Additionally, students will have to incur the loss of an academic year and the brunt of expenses related to flight cancellation, VISA charges and other logistical costs.”
The letter mentions that even if the government, through the Ministry of External Affairs, is able to reach bilateral deals with various countries, the students would still bear the brunt of not being able to “register for classes with limited seats, appear for placement exams or do any activity like normal first-year students”.
In view of the arrival of new strains of the virus, the digital divide, the health risk from conducting physical exams and the aspirations of study abroad students, the students request the board to not conduct the board examinations. Instead, they recommend the CBSE to consider the consistency of scores attained by a student throughout high school or in Class 12 while awarding the final marks.