CBSE boards cancelled. What next? Students can opt for exams when situation becomes conducive, no decision on evaluation yet

In view of the uncertain conditions due to COVID and the feedback obtained from various stakeholders across the board, the Central Government on Tuesday said that THE CBSE and ICSE Class XII Board exams will not be held this year. It was also decided that CBSE will take steps to compile the results of Class XII students as per well-defined objective criteria in a time-bound manner. However, the government has not yet specified how or on what the students will be evaluated.

During a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it was also decided that like last year, in case some students desire to take the exams, such an option would be provided to them by the Central Board of Secondary Education, as and when the situation becomes conducive. Soon after the announcement, students began rejoicing, however, they are also anxious in anticipation of how they will be evaluated and whether it will be a repeat of 2020 — marked through internal assessment.

Vice President of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference Omar Abdullah said reacting to the announcement, "Good. The uncertainty was really tough for the students. Hopefully, the government will move quickly to clarify how the kids will be assessed. A lot of college admissions rely only on this one result."
Reacting to the cancellation of the CBSE Class XII Board exam, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, "I am glad 12th exams have been cancelled. All of us were very worried abt the health of our children. A big relief."

Every year, nearly 1.2 million students appear for CBSE Class XII examinations across the country. As per the original schedule, the board exams were to be held between May 4 and June 14. The results were to be declared by July 15. Last year, the CBSE Class X and XII board examinations were to be held between July 1 and 15 and they had been rescheduled from the original dates in March 2020 after the COVID-19 outbreak in India and the subsequent lockdowns. Just like this year, in 2020 also, various petitions were filed in the Supreme Court seeking the cancellation of exams. The Class XII exams scheduled from July 1 had been cancelled, but students were given a similar option to take exams at a later date if they wished to. Eventually, students did not opt to appear for the examinations as the Coronavirus situation remained grave in the country.