Students' safety is of utmost priority: Ramesh Pokhriyal on conducting Class XII exams

Amid the high number of daily COVID-19 infections and the low numbers of vaccines administered, a lot of parents and students are continuously asking the CBSE and the Ministry of Education to cancel its upcoming Class XII examination. Now, the Minister of Education, despite not having announced a verdict on the conduct of exams, said that the students' safety is the government's top priority.

Ramesh Pokhriyal said this through an article that he wrote for the Indian Express on Saturday. "Ensuring safety, academic welfare and future prospects of our students is our top priority," he tweeted. "Taking cognisance of the urgency of the situation and to ensure the safety and the future prospects of our students, the Prime Minister constituted a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. I, along with my cabinet colleagues Prakash Javadekar and Smriti Irani, attended the meeting to discuss how Class XII examinations would be conducted. It should be noted that all the committee members are familiar with the dynamics of the education system by virtue of their previous government and administrative experience in the field of education," his article read.

The minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has constituted a committee chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and comprising Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Smriti Irani and Pokhriyal himself. Defending the government's stand of conducting exams, he said, "The course of undertaking the limited examination with adequate safety measures will give our generation a sense of pride in their abilities and boost their confidence as opposed to getting a general “pass” degree, as offered during the pandemic."

"The Class XII board exams are deemed a significant milestone in a student’s educational journey. They have different importance and a different context altogether and are an essential yardstick in determining the life trajectories of a nation’s human capital. We must take this as a challenge to our national will, cooperation, the synergy of efforts and administrative efficiency. Together we shall overcome," he added.