Keypoints:
- CBSE has proposed that it will conduct board examination of class 12th only for major subjects.
- The meeting is said to be held today by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with State Education Ministers and state Education Secretaries.
- Any student who will be unable to appear for the exam due to Covid, will be given another chance to appear for the same.
The Central Board of Secondary Education has proposed that it will be conducting the Class 12 Board examination only for major subjects. Sources have said that the CBSE has proposed two options to the Ministry of Education to conduct the board exams only for major subjects.
Students of class 12th have 174 subjects offered by the board out of which 20 subjects are considered major by CBSE. These major subjects are Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, History, Political Science, Business Studies, Accountancy, Geography, Economics, and English.
A CBSE student opts for a minimum of five and a maximum of six subjects. Usually, out of these, four are major subjects.
Key meeting will be held today to discuss this topic. The meeting will be chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh along with State Education Ministers and state Education Secretaries. Other people expected to attend the meeting will be Education Minister Ramesh Pohkriyal, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar and Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani.
The first option says that the examination for major subjects should be held in the “existing format” and at the designated exam centre. Marks for minor subjects can be evaluated based on the students’s performance in the major subject.
Requirement of this option would be:
- One month of pre-exam activities
- Two months for conducting the exams and declaration of results.
- Another 45 days for compartment exams.
The second option says that CBSE has proposed that students of class 12 will sit for the major subject exams in their own schools instead of designated centres. The second format will be completed within 45 days.
To facilitate this:
- Number of centres will have to be doubled.
- Each examination should be of one-and-a half hours instead of three hours, Board recommends.
Question papers will have only objective and short answer questions. Students will appear only for 1 language and 3 major subjects only.
Students performance in the major subject will decide the marks for fifth and sixth subject.
If the Board goes for second option, then the exams will be conducted in two phases. The suggestion of this phasing has been done keeping in mind the variance of Covid situation across the country. The first phase will include locations where the situation is conducive. The remaining areas will be counted in the second phase. There will be a gap of two week between the two phases.
For the class 12th board exams, the Ministry has said that the situation will be reviewed on June 1 to decide fresh dates and make an announcement at least two weeks before the start of the exams.
Todays meeting with the state government is being held to decide which of the two options
