Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Friday said he will first seek advice from parents, students, and teachers across the country before taking any decision on the conduction of board and competitive exams.
The academic session 2020-21 is coming to its end according to the school academic calendar, yet the competitive examination cycle and admission process in colleges has not been finished.
He said conducting classes and examinations amid the pandemic like this is a challenge.
Mr Pokhriyal told the reporters, "Despite the uncertainty looming around due to COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to conduct board examinations as well as entrance examinations for admission to higher educational institutions.”
He further added that he will have an interaction with parents, students, and teachers regarding the crucial examinations, and will conduct exams based on their result of the interaction.
“I understand that 2020 hasn't been the best year for students and they are worried about their future. I will be meeting the students live on December 3 to discuss the upcoming competitive and board exams,” he said.
Amid the nationwide lockdown and coronavirus pandemic, schools across the nation were closed in March to contain the spread of the virus. But schools were allowed to reopen partially from October 16 with 50% attendance. Due to the sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in some states, schools have again been closed.
The board exams that were being conducted in March had to be postponed mid-way and later were cancelled looking at the situation in the country. This year’s results were declared based on an alternative assessment scheme.
JEE and NEET competitive tests were also postponed twice this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Owing to the present scenario, the JEE Main 2021 examination, which was scheduled for January, will now most likely be held in February.
Demands to postpone the board exams till May is being made in the view of the continued closure of schools and conduction of online classes.
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JEE Main examination, is conducted for admission into engineering courses, is conducted every year in January and April. But this year’s April examination was postponed twice due to the rise in cases of coronavirus across the country.
Engineering admissions are currently still underway in the country and the number of Covid-19 cases is increasing which is making the authorities postpone the January examinations.