The UP government had earlier cancelled the Class 10 exams of its state board, thereby allowing nearly 30 lakh candidates, who had registered for it, to get promoted to Class 11.
Following CBSE’s decision to scrap its Class 12 exams this year amid the second wave of the Covid pandemic, the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday cancelled the Class 12 (intermediate) examination of its state board. The students will be promoted on the basis of their average marks scored in previous exams, the government said.
Last month, the state government had said the Class 12 examinations of the UP Board will be held in the second week of July with the duration of each examination reduced to 90 minutes and students will be asked to attempt only three questions out of 10.
However, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to scrap the CBSE Class 12 exams, several other state boards and CISCE decided to cancel the exams.
In a tweet in Hindi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Thursday, “In the present circumstances amid the Covid pandemic, the safety of children’s health is our priority. Taking inspiration from the Prime Minister, the UP government has decided not to hold Class 10 and 12 board examinations.”
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Adityanath in which Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, who holds charge of the Secondary Education Department, was also present.
The UP government had earlier cancelled the Class 10 exams of its state board, thereby allowing nearly 30 lakh candidates, who had registered for it, to get promoted to Class 11.
Nearly 26 lakh candidates had registered for the Class 12 board exams in the state this year.
“After assessing different state Boards, the PM has cancelled the Class 10 and 12 CBSE exams. The UP Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad is the biggest education board in the country with a history of over 100 years, and nearly 56 lakh students appearing for the exams. For the first time, we will not hold high school (Class 10) and intermediate (Class 12) board examinations. We had already cancelled the Class 10 exams, and today we have decided to scrap the Class 12 exams too, keeping in mind the Covid-19 infection,” Sharma said.
He said that students of both Class 10 and 12 will be promoted after considering their average marks scored in the previous exams. However, those students who believe they are better prepared will later get another chance to appear in the general exam and improve their marks.
“For the promotion of high school (Class 10) students, an average of marks scored in Class 9 and Class 10 pre-board exams will be calculated. The result will be mentioned as the final score in the marksheet. If the student has not appeared for the pre-board or Class 9 exam, then we will give a general promotion for now. Next year, the student will have an option to appear for the exams to improve their marks,” said Sharma.
A similar promotion pattern will be followed for Class 12 students. But here the average will be calculated from marks scored in Class 10 and 11. If the student has not appeared in Class 11 exam, the average marks of Class 10 and 12 pre-board exams will be taken. However, students will again have an option to appear for the next general exams and improve the marks, Sharma said.
After the CBSE cancelled the Board exam, Education Minister Sharma had welcomed the decision. “…there was a proposal that it (exam) may be held in the second week of July depending on the situation, but we will consider the concerns that PM Modi has for students and a decision will be taken,” Sharma had said Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had demanded that the state board examinations be cancelled. “Finally, the insensitive BJP government had to bow down to the pressure of the examinees-parents and they had to take the decision to cancel the CBSE class 12 exams. Now on this basis, the examinations of other boards and state boards should also be cancelled… No examination without vaccination,” he had said.
With PTI Inputs
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