KOLKATA: The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) will schedule the
ICSE and
ISC (Class X and Class XII board exams) at least two months after on-campus classes resume in
schools in order to allow examinees at least this time for classroom study to clear doubts and take part in practical classes.
Announcing this decision, council chief executive Gerry Arathoon told 1,600 school principals on Friday that this would give examinees adequate time to prepare for the exam that, in many instances, could be life-defining.
“Due to the
Covid crisis, education is suffering. It is now confirmed that board examinations can’t be held according to the usual schedule during February and March. All boards are insisting that there should be two months of rigorous teaching before exams are held, that the time is required for revision, doubt-clearing, completing practical work and finishing project work,” Arathoon told the Association of Schools for the Indian School Certificate annual conference.
He also instructed school principals to begin speaking to guardians, assure them about safety and hygiene protocols being followed at their schools and to convince them to send their children as soon as states allowed schools to reopen.
“The ministry of education had already advised boards to educate principals, teachers, students and parents on how to protect ourselves from the
pandemic. The exercise was carried out by all schools. Now that the vaccines are arriving, we expect schools to be allowed to reopen in January. Several states have already permitted the educational institutes to bring back students appearing at board exams to classrooms,” Arathoon pointed out.
Apart from science stream students who have not had the opportunity to go to laboratories for practical classes, there are also students who continue to face difficulties in accessing the internet to attend online classes.
Raja McGee, principal, Calcutta Boys’ School, and secretary, Methodist School in Dankuni, said most principals felt that schools should reopen. “We have put in place a plan where the entire batch won’t be called to school. All SOPs and social distancing norms will be maintained on campus and classrooms,” he pointed out, adding that students’ education would remain incomplete without practical classes. “We can’t keep students in isolation forever.”
Sujoy Biswas, principal of Rammohan Mission School and president of the association that Arathoon addressed, said: “Students spend their more than a decade in schools to take up the challenge of board examinations. Considering the importance of public exams in career-building, they must be given a fair amount of interactive sessions as to last-minute revisions, practical classes and projects. Students teachers and parents feel this is urgently required. At least two months’ in-person classes is a must before the examinations.”
While many parents of students who are in Class X and XII want to send their children to school, there are also several others who are reluctant before they are vaccinated. “I will not risk the life of my child, lest he catches the virus, or my parents lest my son catches it outside and passes it on to them,” the mother of a Class V student pointed out.
Arathoon had earlier written to state chief ministers, including Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, requesting permission to reopen schools from January 4 for students appearing for board exams. He also wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner of India to share election dates of states that are due to hold elections next year to ensure those dates didn’t clash with exam dates.