The Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal announced on Wednesday that he will go live and discuss issues that are troubling the students of this country on December 10. This comes amid the raging speculation over the 2021 CBSE Board, JEE, NEET exam dates.
The CBSE has also revealed that the board exams, whenever held, will be written exams and not online or any other mode. A senior official confirmed that exams will be held keeping all COVID-19 SoPs in mind. CBSE generally fixes the schedule for exams and releases the date sheet by December every year. But there is an obvious delay due to the pandemic.
Pokhriyal said that students can write to him with their questions and grievances and he will address them on his live session on December 10. Students have been encouraged to share their feedback and queries about these topics via Twitter using the hashtag #EducationMinisterGoesLive. On Monday, the minister wrote: "Students, we know you have tons of questions related to upcoming competitive/board exams! In order to make sure that we cover most of your concerns, we have decided to extend the date of the webinar to Dec 10. Till then keep sharing your concerns using #EducationMinisterGoesLive!"
Concerns have been pouring in since then with students asking the government to not conduct physical exams this year. A few students have also raised concerns about internet connectivity and access, no electricity in remote areas. Some have spoken about their mental health issues due to the unprecedented lockdown and the pandemic wreaking havoc in everyone's lives. Thus, the #EducationMinisterGoesLive webinar is one of the most eagerly awaited webinars to be held by the Education Minister in recent times. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing schools to remain closed for this entire year; students and parents have been worried sick.
Earlier, Pokhriyal had also stated that the competitive and board exams would be conducted in 2010-21 only after proper consultation with students, teachers and parents. Schools in India have been closed since March. Though the government gave the go-ahead to state governments to decide when to reopen schools from October 15 onwards, many states including Tamil Nadu have chosen to keep schools closed.