CBSE Class 12 Board Exam 2021: A day ahead of a crucial hearing in the Supreme Court on a plea seeking cancellation of Class 12 board exam 2021, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council For The Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) are reportedly contemplating various options, including cancellation and adopting alternative assessment route or going ahead with the exams in a shorter format.

As per the reports, the COVID-19 situation is still being reviewed and the cancellation of exams, marking students on basis of their previous results of class 9, 10 and 11 are on the cards. Though a majority of states have favoured the option proposed by the CBSE about shorter duration exams for major subjects in August, others like Delhi, Maharashtra have demanded vaccination of students before conducting exams.

Earlier on Saturday, CISCE asked its affiliated schools to submit data including the average of marks obtained by Class 12 students in class 11 and in the current session. While there is no clarity from the board, this move came as a huge hope for students, parents demanding cancellation of exams in the wake of the current COVID situation.

“The CISCE is in the process of collating and collecting data from all our schools presenting candidates for class 12 examination. You are, therefore, requested to provide the requested information for class 12 candidates,” CISCE Secretary Gerry Arathoon said in a letter to school principals marked as “strictly confidential”.

Cancel CBSE, CISCE Class 12 Board Exam Plea to be Heard in Supreme Court Tomorrow

The Supreme Court will also hear on May 31 a plea seeking directions to cancel the class 12 exams of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) amidst the surge in COVID-19 cases across the country.

“Be optimistic. May be by Monday (May 31), some resolution will be there,” a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari told the petitioner in a hearing on Friday.

Advocate Mamata Sharma had filed the petition in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the CBSE, CISCE and the central government authorities in charge of exams to devise an “objective methodology” to evaluate the result of Class 12 students within a specific time frame.

Final Decision on June 1

The Ministry of Education, on the other hand, has maintained that ‘nothing has been finalised yet and a final decision will be announced by June 1’. Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had time and again stressed that safety of students is a priority but these exams are crucial too. In view of the aggressive second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, CBSE, CISCE and several state boards had postponed the class 12 exams scheduled in May-June.