All Class 12 students of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are eagerly waiting for June 1 when Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank is expected to announce the dates for CBSE class 12 board exams.

A high-level virtual meeting was chaired by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday (May 23) to discuss the conduct of the CBSE Class 12 Board Exam 2021. The meeting was attended by Union ministers Smriti Irani, Prakash Javadekar and several other senior high officials.

After the meeting, the Centre proposed two options – 

1) to conduct the Class 12 students of a few major subjects and mark them on the rest based on how they do in these subjects.

2) to conduct exams in schools and change the exam pattern to one that has only objective questions and lasts just one-and-a-half hours instead of three.

Going by reports, the CBSE Class 12 board exams might be held for a very short duration, and even 30-minute exams are in speculation, in which students would be asked objective questions on their respective subjects. However, there has been no official confirmation from the education ministry regarding the same.

The Union Ministry of Education said that on May 22 a letter was written by Pokhriyal to states and UTs that the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education and CBSE are exploring options regarding the conduct of examinations, in the wake of the pandemic.

The letter also said that coronavirus outbreak has affected various areas including the education sector, particularly the board exams and entrance exams.

The CBSE board exam 2021 could also be held between July 15 and August 26 amid all COVID-19 safety protocols.

Notably, almost all the State Education Boards, CBSE and ICSE have postponed their Class XII examinations, 2021 due to rising COVID-19 cases. The National Testing Agency (NTA) and other National exam conducting institutions have also postponed the entrance exams for admissions to professional courses.

Different states have varied opinions on conducting Class 12 board exams during the pandemic. Most are batting for the Class 12 board exams to go ahead, but in a shorter format. While Delhi is against holding exams, at least not before vaccinating all students appearing for boards, Maharashtra too, has opposed the holding of offline exams.

On the other hand, Tamil Nadu is expected to conduct 12 exams once the COVID-19 situation comes under control.

“I thank all the Chief Ministers, Education Ministers, and officers associated with the world’s largest education system for participating in the high-level meeting chaired by Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh Ji. As envisioned by the Prime Minister, the meeting was extremely fruitful as we received immensely valuable suggestions. I have requested the State Governments to send me their detailed suggestions by May 25,” tweeted Pokhriyal after the meeting on Sunday.