After the cancellation of the Class 12 board exams of CBSE and CISCE, the next challenge for the two boards and the education ministry is to come up with a fair and reliable criterion for assessing the academic performance of these students. This is critical and crucial. Deciding the process and criteria based on which the students’ performance will be judged is so important given the criticality of Class 12 exams on university admissions.
The Supreme Court on June 3 has asked the Centre to submit the objective criteria to assess Class 12 students in two weeks. A bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said the decision in the matter has to be taken early, as there are many students who want to take admission in foreign universities. The apex court has adjourned the case by two weeks to allow CBSE and CISCE to submit their criteria for declaring the Class 12 results. The hearing will resume on June 17.
Any delay or any confusion on the new grading criteria will lead to more confusion and stress among students. Since Class 12 marks are an important factor affecting students’ careers, CBSE and CISCE must ensure students don’t get affected by the methodology of awarding marks and deserving students must be given due advantage. It’s a challenge that will require a great deal of meticulous thinking.
Another challenge that requires immediate resolution on the part of the education ministry is the compilation of the results for Class 12 students. The results of Class 12 have to be announced before universities begin their admission process. The government should look seriously into this matter too since any delay in declaration of results will affect the college admission process, whether in India or abroad. Indian students make up a large chunk of students studying abroad in various universities.
The postponement of the board exams for Class 12 students is probably going to cause a ripple effect in the college admissions process. Now universities have to adopt many student-friendly policies, including re-adjusting of their admission cycles so that students’ careers and study plans are not jeopardised. The universities should therefore align with the well-defined assessment criteria to ensure a seamless admission procedure and welcome the upcoming cohort taking into account the current circumstances the pandemic has put us into.
For most of the students and their parents, it was a sigh of relief after the Class 12 exams of CBSE and CISCE were cancelled. No doubt, this has put an end to endless discussions and speculations. So far students are going through a dilemma over whether to appear or not in the Class 12 exams. Though it was not an easy decision to take, the government had no option as the health of the students is paramount. The government’s decision underlines that the physical and mental health of students is topmost priority.
Earlier, both CBSE and CISCE have said that they will announce the criteria which will be similar to that of Class 10. They also said that students who will be unhappy with the results will get another chance to appear for written exams when the situation improves. After the cancellation of CBSE and ICSE Class 12 exams, other state board students are also waiting for the final decision on their Class 12 exams. There can’t be discrimination between CBSE and state board students in this pandemic situation. A suitable decision on state board exams must be taken as soon as possible by state governments.
