The government's decision to conduct the CBSE 2021 board examination for Classes 10 and 12 between May 4 and June 10 has sent colleges across the country into a tizzy. They fear a delay in the exams will lead to a crunched academic session for the second time in a row.
“If CBSE board exams are completed by June then the final results will be declared by the end of July. Taking a cue, other states may also delay the Class X, XII board exam pushing the results cycle to August. When do we begin the admission process?” asked the principal of a college under Delhi University.
In 2020, the academic session in colleges began in an online mode on November 1 amid the Coronavirus outbreak. While India is currently in an unlock phase after the COVID-19 lockdown, colleges have kept their physical campuses shut to prevent the virus spread.
India has 993 universities and 39,931 colleges affiliated to these universities. There are 37.3 million students studying across these institutes.
Between 16,500 (Nagaland) to 2.6 million (Uttar Pradesh) appear for Class XII board exams every year. The CBSE has close to 1.5 million students taking the Class XII board examination each year. ISC has close to 87,000 students appearing for Class XII board exams every year.
Delay in exams would mean that colleges would have to delay admissions and students would lose out on up to three months of classes delaying the entire cycle again.
What do colleges want?
Moneycontrol spoke to a dozen colleges across the country and the consensus was that the delay will lead to impact the academic calendars of 2021 and 2022 and students will either be expected to complete one semester’s portions on their own or be ready for a delayed exam cycle.
“If we start the 2021 academic year by November 1 then the first-year students will be able to complete the two to three semesters of that year by September/October 2022. Then there will be a break and the next session will only begin by mid-November. This progressive delay will affect students,” said the vice-chancellor of a Kolkata-based university.
Colleges also fear that students’ job prospects may get affected due to an inordinate delay in completing their programmes. Internships in companies are conducted in May each year and final placements are conducted in February/March ahead of the new financial year followed by companies.
Mumbai-based education consultant Puneet Oberoi told Moneycontrol that study-abroad programmes will not make special exceptions for Indian students whose exams have been delayed.
“Say a student from India wants to study in Australia after Class XII. He/she will find it tough to apply because admissions are usually completed there by the first week of July every year. The student will lose out a year due to this,” he added.
In 2020, special exemptions were given to submit final exam mark sheets till December but that was one-off flexibility given due to COVID-19.
Could there be changes in board exam dates?
The board exam dates were delayed from February/March to May/June in view of the COVID-19 outbreak and risks of infection among the several million students who will be writing the Class X, XII exams in 2021.
The education ministry's view is that by May the COVID-19 situation would have improved considering the vaccine has been approved and roll-out is likely from January 14 onwards.
State governments like West Bengal are delaying the board exams in view of the upcoming Assembly Elections in the region, apart from the COVID-19 fears.
If exams are preponed, they could clash with vaccination efforts across states or with elections. The new UK COVID-19 virus strain also is an added risk for students writing exams in closed spaces.
While colleges want board exam dates to be preponed, state governments and board authorities are unlikely to consider these demands.
Sources told Moneycontrol that the CBSE exam dates have been finalised after a series of discussions with the government, health authorities and schools (including teachers). So there will be no changes in the schedule unless there is any further health emergency during that period.
“College will have to tweak their academic structure to have a hybrid online-offline model to ensure that the academic calendar doesn’t get stretched further. Preponing exams is not feasible,” said an official.
For students giving their board exams in 2021, it will be a tough year as far their undergraduate college education is concerned.
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