CBSE Class 12 board exam: Students, parents and schools cheer cancellation, but questions remain

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After a painful eight-week wait, 1.2 million students across India can heave a sigh of relief with the CBSE Class 12 board exam 2021 being scrapped in the wake of COVID-19.

On one hand while students are cheering the decision taken in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there are a lot of questions unanswered.

Firstly, the assessment criteria for rolling out the final marksheet has not been specified. A government statement said that PM Modi has directed officials to ensure that that the results are prepared in accordance with well-defined criteria, in a fair and time-bound manner.

"We are thankful that the exams got cancelled. But now the question is whether we will be marked based on the past term or based on Class XI performance as well," said Vrinda Tiwari, a CBSE Class 12 student from Lucknow.

Moneycontrol had reported earlier how there was a growing clamour to cancel the board examinations in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases. As on 8am on June 1, India added 1,27,510 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours and 2,795 deaths.

This took the total tally 28.1 million with 3,31,895 deaths so far due to COVID-19 between April 2020 and June 2021.

CBSE Notification

For students, while this ends the period of uncertainty. Moneycontrol had earlier spoken to 18-year-old Sooraj C Biyani, a CBSE Class 12 student from Kolkata who started getting panic attacks due to constant fear of the delays.

Following the decision, Biyani said that he's happy that there is a full-stop to the confusion. He can now go back to preparing for his medical undergraduate entrance exam NEET which is scheduled for August 2021.

Parents are happy too. Ananya Subramanian, a Chennai-based doctor whose daughter Anusha was slated to appear for the Class XII board exam told Moneycontrol that this decision to scrap the test was much-needed.

"I need to go to the hospital on a daily basis and my family is already at risk. I would not have been comfortable with Anusha taking exams in a physical centre with thousands of other students," she added.

Mumbai's Nitesh Sawant echoed a similar view. Sawant who is a banker said that his son Pradeep had already contacted COVID-19 earlier this year and could not prepare for the Class 12 exam.

"Better late than never. It would have been very risky to send my son to write exams," he said.

But what next?

The biggest question now is how will the students be marked. Giving similar marks to all students may not be a viable option since this would also spoil their chances of getting into a higher education institution of their choice.
Charu Wahi, Principal, Nirmal Bhartia School said, "A decision taken in the best interest of the children. However, the next step is equally critical and crucial in terms of deciding the process and criteria based on which the children's performance will be gauged. This should be done keeping in mind that many of them make that extra effort during the last mile and hence, should be given due advantage."

In 2020 while CBSE had taken a similar decision to cancel board exams, students had already given a majority of papers and hence it was easier to assess them on their performance in these subjects.

This year CBSE will have to bring out a marking system that takes into account the interests of students planning a study-abroad programme as well for those pursuing a higher education degree in India.

Mallica Mohapatra, a 18-year-old Class 12 student from Cuttack in Odisha told Moneycontrol that she is eyeing a fine arts course from New York.

"I don't know if the universities that I apply to will accept these scores based on my 2020 performance. Else, I will lose an entire academic year," she rues.

An added worry is when would the revised assessment guidelines be released and timelines for exam results be disclosed.

Considering the pandemic, while international universities are giving a 30-60-day extension to submit the final marksheet, any further delays would lead to the admission getting revoked. Students have time till the last week of August to submit necessary documents for admissions. 

Once the marking criteria is finalised and exam result dates are announced, bodies like the Delhi University will also begin to prepare their entry criteria for the 2021 undergraduate courses.
Vishnu Karthik, CEO, The Heritage Schools said that the challenge now is for CBSE to arrive at an alternative criterion to determine grade 12 marks.

"Any delay or any confusion on the new grading criteria will lead to more confusion and stress among students. Clear directions should also be provided to Indian universities to modify their admissions criteria so meritocracy and fairness is not compromised," he added.

Apart from CBSE, the CISCE has also cancelled the Class 12 board exams in view of COVID-19 situation says Board Secretary Gerry Arathoon. He also said that the alternative assessment criteria will be announced soon.