The Delhi government has written a letter to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), urging the board to postpone the March 2021 Board Examinations to May and reduce the syllabus.
The Delhi government has written a letter to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), urging the central board to postpone the March 2021 Board Examinations to May. The government further asked to reduce the syllabus as schools still continue to remain closed.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in India have remained closed for nearly 7 months in this academic year. While the Centre has laid out guidelines to reopen the schools and educational institutions, many states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Odisha have decided to keep the schools closed at least October 31.
"Though online, semi-online teaching-learning activities are being conducted through live classes as well as worksheets or activity sheets but it cannot replace the physical classroom teaching-learning process," the DoE said in the letter written to CBSE.
"In order to provide students with a reasonable time to study in person in schools, it is requested that the ongoing academic session be extended beyond March and CBSE board exams be conducted not before May 2021. Consequently, the next academic session may commence from July 2021," it added.
The government has also requested to further reduce the syllabus for the current session along with revised CBSE Sample Papers 2021 (which were released last week) as per the reduced syllabus.
"The CBSE had reduced 30% of syllabus in all subjects in anticipation of the opening of schools in July but schools in Delhi are closed till October 31. It is also requested that sample question papers aligned with the further-reduced syllabus for the session 2020-21 may be prepared as per the latest question paper design and made available for the students at the earliest," the DoE said.
The government has asked CBSE to provide detailed guidelines regarding the conduct of practical exams or any other alternate mode to replace the practical part.
"Practical and project work are an integral part of any subject that includes assessment of desired skills and competencies. It is requested that the board may provide detailed guidelines regarding the conduct of these practical exams under such conditions or any other alternate mode to replace the practical part of the subject," it added.
Universities and schools across the country were ordered shut on March 16 to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
While several restrictions have been eased gradually in different phases of the 'unlock' since June 8, educational institutions continue to remain closed.
According to the latest guidelines under Unlock 5, schools, colleges and other educational institutions outside COVID-19 containment zones can reopen after October 15.
However, the final decision on reopening has been left with the states and Union territories.
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