The government on Tuesday decided to cancel the CBSE Class 12th board exams for the year 2021 over the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country and keeping the safety of students in mind.
“In view of the uncertain conditions due to COVID and the feedback obtained from various stakeholders, it was decided that Class XII Board Exams would not be held this year,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
It was decided that the CBSE will take steps to compile the results of Class XII students as per well-defined objective criteria in a time-bound manner, the statement said.
The decision was taken during a review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“While the numbers are coming down in the country and some states are managing the situation through effective micro-containment, some states have still opted for a lockdown. Students, parents and teachers are naturally worried about the health of the students in such a situation,” Mr Modi said.
The Prime Minister stressed that the health and safety of students are of utmost importance and there would be no compromise on this aspect. He said that in today’s time, such exams cannot be the reason to put youth at risk.
Nearly 14 lakh students have registered to write the exams this year. Earlier, the government had cancelled board exams for Class Xth.
Last year, the date sheet of board exams was disturbed by COVID-19, resulting in the cancellation of some papers. The CBSE had used an alternative assessment method to assign grades in those subjects by using scores from the completed papers.
