CBSE Class 12 Board Exam 2021: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia held a press conference shortly after attending a high-level meeting called by the Centre. He said the Delhi government was not in the favour of conducting Class 12 board exams as it could put students’ lives at risk as he cited the possibility of the third wave of COVID in the near future. He said he would write to the Central government and urge them to cancel the exams and pass the students on the basis of their past examinations. Sisodia also proposed students should be allowed to appear for the exams in due time if they are not satisfied with their results.

Sisodia also demanded vaccination for the students studying in Class 12 before they sit for their exams. “Conducting Class 12 board exams before vaccinating students will prove to be a big mistake and failure, ” the Delhi Deputy CM tweeted in Hindi.

Manish Sisodia said that the Centre should focus on vaccinating Class 12 students and teachers across the country. He urged the Centre to consider the option of acquiring the Pfizer vaccine for these students. “The central government’s priority should be vaccination. The central government should either talk to Pfizer and arrange vaccines for 1.4 crore students and almost the same number of teachers across the country,” he added.

“If the young-aged vaccine can be given to 17.5-year-olds following the advice of health experts, then Covishield and Covaxin, available in the country, should first be applied to all children of 12th and all teachers,” he added.

A high-level virtual meeting was convened today with all the States/UT Education Ministers, Education Secretaries and Chairpersons of State Examination Boards and stakeholders to discuss the proposals for the conduct of exams for Class 12 and entrance examinations for professional courses (NEET, JEE Main).

Following the meeting, the Centre placed two options before states for conducting the Class 12th examinations. First, all state boards will hold exams only for major/limited subjects as per the existing system, and second, to conduct the exams in an objective format with only MCQs and short questions and curtailing the exam duration to one and a half hour, instead of three hours. All states have opted for the first option, except the Delhi government which is in the favour of cancelling the exams.