Don’t Conduct CBSE Board Thos Year, Manish Sisodia Requests HRD Ministry

Manish Sisodia sends a letter to HRD Ministry and asks to cancel CBSE Class 10 and 12 exams of remaining 29 subjects.

The Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia has written a letter to the Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, requesting him to cancel CBSE 10^th and 12^th Boards exams of all the remaining 29 subjects. He urges HRD Ministry to not conduct these remaining papers of CBSE Board exam 2020, considering the COVID-19 crisis in Delhi, INDIA.

The remaining 29 papers of class 10^th and 12^th are scheduled to be held in July from 01^st to 15^th. The exams were halted mid-March due to the spread of coronavirus in the capital. Subsequently, other states of India too have called off exams and follow the lockdown rules.

In his letter to HRD Ministry, he requested that the remaining exams not be held and suggested that the board instead rely on previously conducted school-based internal assessments such as projects, internals, periodic tests and term exams.

Furthermore, he pointed the rapid increase of coronavirus cases in the capital and says, "Currently, Delhi has 44,688 Covid-19 cases and it is expected to rise to 5.5 lakh by July 31, 2020. Therefore, it is difficult to conduct exams in Delhi”.

He further added, "Class 12 exam is a high stake exam for students. Hence, subjecting them to take these exams in such an uncertain and anxiety-prone situation would not be fair".

Number of Reasons Enlisted By Delhi Education Minister To Cancel Board Exams Are

• Students living in containment zone or with Covid-19 positives

He mentioned in his letter and further asked the Union HRD Minister, "In such a situation if someone from the family of the student tests positive then he/she would have to skip the exam."

Sisodia pointed that it is clear that no exam will be conducted in the containment zone but what about students coming from those zone. Delhi has 242 containtment zones. There is no such clarity on how a child from this zone will come out to appear for the exam.

• School buildings in Delhi are working as a isolation ward for Covid-19 patients

Government school buildings in Delhi are either being used as rehabilitation centres, quarantine centres, or Covid-19 hospitals. There are around 251 buildings, working as a ration distribution centres, 33 as hunger relief centres, 39 as shelters, 10 as transit migrant camps and 10 as quarantine centres now.  

Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, concluded the letter, saying, "In this situation, using school buildings between July 1 and 16 is extremely difficult. Therefore, I once again request you to remove any uncertainty and declare that the exams of all 29 subjects proposed to be conducted in July will not be conducted at all. For the results in these subjects, CBSE may rely upon the previous school based on internal assessment which includes, project work, periodic tests, term exams, etc.”