Coronavirus: MHRD directs CBSE to promote Class I-VIII students
The Ministry of Human Resource Development on Wednesday directed the Central Board of Secondary Education to promote all students of Classes I-VIII to the next class due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Ministry also said students of Classes IX and XI will be promoted on the basis of their school assessments while Class X and XII Board examinations will be held for select subjects.
HRD Minister Ramesh 'Nishank' Pokhriyal announced that the CBSE has been advised to promote all Class I-VIII students. The advisory has been issued in consultation with the NCERT. The CBSE said, "The Board is committed to the academic welfare of its students; therefore, the Board is constantly assessing the situation and is keen to mitigate the anxiety of the students, parents, and schools."
For Classes IX and XI, the CBSE noted that several schools affiliated to the Board have already completed their examination, evaluation and promotion process. The schools that have not yet promoted students have been advised by the Board to promote students of Classes IX and XI to the next class on the basis of school-based assessments (project work, term exams, etc.)
The CBSE noted that students who fail to clear such assessments (in any number of subjects) may be given an opportunity by their schools to appear in school-based tests, either online or offline. They will then be promoted on the basis of these tests.
The CBSE said that, at this stage, it was "difficult for the Board to decide and announce the new schedule of examinations." The Board said it will give a notice of 10 days to all stakeholders before starting the examinations. The Board has decided that whenever the examinations are conducted, they will be held for 29 subjects "crucial" for promotion and higher education.
Class X (only for Northeast Delhi): Hindi Course-A and B, English Comm, English Lng & Lit, Science, and Social Science. Class XII (Northeast Delhi): English Elective-N and C, English-Core, Mathematics, Economics, Biology, Political Science, History, Physics, Accountancy, and Chemistry. Class XII (pan-India): Business Studies, Geography, Hindi (Elective and Core), Home Science, Sociology, Computer Science (Old and New), Information Practice (Old and New), IT, Bio-Technology.
Earlier, the CBSE was unable to conduct all the examinations in light of the coronavirus outbreak. The Board was also unable to conduct exams on four examination days (six examination days for some districts) due to the violence in Northeast Delhi in February. The Board had eventually postponed all examinations to be conducted between March 19 and March 31.
For CBSE-affiliated schools located in 25 other countries—also under lockdown—the Board has decided to "not hold any more exams" for Class X and XII. The Board said that due to the current circumstances, it has also been unable to continue evaluation work. It said that the restart of evaluation may not be announced at this stage and will give three-four days' notice in advance.
