MUMBAI: The Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) late on Monday night announced the cancellation of ICSE (Class X) exams and said it would instead use a “fair and unbiased criterion” to mark students. The board had earlier given class X students an option to appear for offline examinations whenever they are conducted.
The council’s circular stated: “Given the present worsening situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the CISCE has decided to cancel the ICSE 2021 exams and the options given to the students earlier now stands withdrawn. The safety and wellbeing of our students and teaching faculty is our topmost priority and of paramount interest.” The board said it is devising a “fair and unbiased criterion” for drawing up the scores. Dates of results will be declared later by the board.
CISCE also asked its affiliated schools to begin the admission process for class XI. “Schools should prepare a schedule to begin the online classes for Class XI students at the earliest,” it said.
The status of the ISC (Class XII) exams remains the same. In a circular issued on April 16, the board said that it would review the Covid-19 situation in the first week of June and decide when the ISC exams can be conducted.
Parents and school principals are relieved with the board’s decision. “It would have been very unfair to keep students waiting to know when the class X exams would be conducted considering that the Covid-19 situation isn’t going to improve overnight. Cancelling the exams at a later date would mean students would continue to study only to be disappointed,” said Priya Rajkumar, parent of a ICSE student. A school principal said this decision will ensure that results are announced in time and the next academic year isn’t impacted.