Explained | With board exams cancelled, here are some alternate assessment options

Board_Exam

Finally, the big sigh of relief after weeks of uncertainty.

In a major solace for students, the Class 12 board exams were cancelled for CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) and CISCE (Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations) schools on June 1.

This has come in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 1, it was decided that the CBSE Class 12 board exams for 2021 will be cancelled.

Following this, CISCE also announced cancellation of the ISC Class 12 exam.

PM Modi said in a statement, following the meeting, that he had directed officials to ensure that the results are prepared in accordance with well-defined criteria, in a fair and time-bound manner.

Sources said that while a home-based short exam format was suggested initially, it was finally decided that they be cancelled altogether since less than 10 percent of students across India would have access to laptops and web cameras for appearing in live online exams.

Hence, the education boards have been asked to come up with an alternate assessment pattern that ranks students effectively and is able to gauge the true learning outcome of the past one year.

Moneycontrol gives a lowdown on what could be some of the mechanisms used to bring out the final marksheet:

Last held exam 

Students across education boards were studying online, writing tests at home and uploading answer sheets through e-learning systems in schools.

One option suggested to the boards is that the final marksheet would be brought out based on the performance of students in the last held term examination. This means that the marks scored in the last term tests would be used to assess students.

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However, sources said that a few schools have also expressed concerns about COVID-19 positive students (or cases where parents had tested positive) who missed out on the test. Such students, who did not take the term exam, would not be able to qualify if this criterion is used.

Full year performance

Another option being presented is using the full-year performance, including scores in various oral tests, pre-boards, first and second term examinations in school.

Here, it is likely that students who missed writing online tests due to COVID-19, would be given some concessions, or be allowed to appear for physical exams later.

Equal weightage to Class 11 and 12 performance

Instead of just using the performance of Class 12 as the sole criteria to mark students, it is also being proposed that schools use the track record of an individual student in Classes 11 and 12.

Here, equal weightage would be given to the marks scored in the Class 11 exams as well as academic performance in Class 12.

"This would ensure that a student who is consistent does not lose out even if he/she could not perform well in any one term due to medical (COVID-19) emergencies," said a government official.

This is especially true for students who didn't have access to stable internet and laptops/computers in 2020 during online study, amidst the pandemic.

Option to give exams later

The government has already stated that students can appear for the Class 12 board exams at a later date. This is applicable for those who missed writing school exams (online) due to medical emergencies at home and those without smartphones and laptops.

Schools would also provide an option to students dissatisfied with the standardised marking system to write exams consequently. However, this would mean that their marksheet would be withheld.

"Students are free to give exams later, maybe in October or November. However, once they take admission to a college, I don't know how many opt for it," added another higher education department official.

The final assessment methodologies will be released in the next 10-15 days by CBSE, CISCE and other state boards.