All quiet on the Class X, XII exams frontTime to take a decision

The State Government should take a decision and fast at that. Does not make sense to keep on tenterhooks thousands of students who are to appear for their Class X and Class XII board examinations.  The call for a decision and a fast one at that is important given that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had earlier announced that the health and lives of the young students are more important while announcing that the Class XII board examinations conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education stands cancelled. Earlier the Government had announced the cancellation of the Class X CBSE examinations. After the Prime Minister’s announcement, it did not take long for Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to announce that the matter would be consulted with the Board of Secondary Education, Assam which conducts the Class X examinations there and the Assam Higher Secondary Educational Council which conducts the Class XII board examinations, before a final decision is taken. No final decision there yet, but at least the Assam Government has conveyed the message that it is keeping in mind the fate of thousands of students who are set to appear for the Class X and Class XII board examinations. A number of other States have also gone ahead and announced that the Class X and Class XII board exams for this year have been cancelled, including Maharashtra (10 and 12), Karnataka (PUC or Class 12), Haryana (Class 12), Uttar Pradesh (10 and 12) etc. On the other hand some States have already conducted the Class X and Class XII examinations such as Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Kerala.
The interesting point is, so far the State Government has been maintaining a stoic silence on whether the Class X and Class XII board examinations would be conducted or cancelled. Not a single word on whether the matter would be discussed either with the BoSEM  and CoHSEM has been uttered, adding to the anxiety of the thousands of students and parents alike. The silence of the Government on the matter is deafening. If it is waiting for time to study the situation then the same may be conveyed to the public, particularly the students and the different schools. The dilemma of the State Government is understood, especially if the exams are to be cancelled. If other criteria such as the performance of the students throughout the year and internal assessments are to be taken into consideration to grade the students, private schools may not have much of a problem. The important question is whether Government schools would be able to do justice on the performance of the students using parameters such as internal assessments and their year long performance. It will also be needed to question whether BoSEM and CoHSEM can come up with any concrete ideas and suggestions in case the situation demands that the exams be cancelled. Whatever the case, a decision will have to be taken for one cannot keep such an important thing hanging in the balance. Schools, BoSEM and CoHSEM will need to work in tandem and in close collaboration.