Discussions going on to hold CBSE board examinations in February

The Central Board of Secondary Education is now seriously considering advancing the annual Class X and XII board exams to February from March. It is supposed to bring in more quality in assessment and also the results would be declared earlier. The final decision will be taken after the consultation of various stakeholders. Authorities of schools in Kerala are eyeing this with caution. Though they agree that there are advantages also.

T P M Ibrahim Khan, president of Kerala CBSE School Management Association, said that the decision to advance the exam will definitely benefit the class XII students as they will be able to apply to several courses and choose one intelligently. . “However, we are already running short of the stipulated 200 working days due to strikes and other planned and unplanned holidays. We can’t complete even 180 working days. So the shorter span builds up pressure on students and teachers. Moreover from this year onwards, the State Government, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission all are insisting that the vacation classes should be done away with due to the heat. So both teachers and students will be under stress to complete portion and produce better results. Teachers have to take care of weaker students also,” said Mr Ibrahim Khan.

The strikes like milk and other essentials force the schools to close down. If the political parties would exempt schools from these strikes, they would do a great service to the nation. He added, “In fact there is no unbearable heat or cold in the state and hence official bodies should sit together and revisit their decision to impose restrictions on vacation classes.” Ms Indu Panicker, principal of Global Public School, Thiruvaniyoor, Ernakulam welcomes the decision for class X. But she says in class XII it would be inconvenient.

“The portion of Class X is easier to deal with while for CBSE Class XII this would be difficult and then conduct model examination. The ban on summer class, strikes and holidays are the other impediments. If the theory exams are to be held in February, then we will have to conduct the practical exams prior to that. However, students can focus on entrance examinations if the board exam gets over in February,” said Ms Indu Panicker.

President Sahodaya School Complex Malappuram region M Abdul Nazar liked the decision. “Earlier to root out the difficulties of students and parents Sahodaya had given petition to the CBSE authorities many times to publish the results earlier as students who seek higher studies are neglected by the State Government,” he said. One of the members of Sahodaya School Complex, Kasargod, and Thenbeehul Islam Central School, Vidyanagar principal Jacob Sebastian, said: “The move is in the right direction, as results can be declared earlier. When the CBSE students after their Class X have to compete with the State Syllabus students for the admission to higher secondary, they face a lot of issues due to the delay in the publication of results. Schools will face difficulties this year if it is implemented this year but from next year, they can plan properly,” he added.

Executive member of Kozhikode district Sahodaya School Complex, Haridas P, also prefers it. According to him, class XII students face a lot of difficulties for admissions after class XII. The forms of Calicut University, Kannur and Kerala University were announced for online registration even before the results of CBSE were declared. As the students did not know their results, they could not apply for these Universities. Still, many schools in Thiruvananthapuram district do not want the CBSE class x and XII examinations in February.

Fr.Mathews Chackalackal, Principal Christ Nagar Senior Secondary school, Thiruvallam says that if the examinations are held in February, it would be difficult to get the required number of working days. Moreover, students get serious with studies in the month of December. He added, in a state like Kerala, a number of days are lost due to various reasons. The students would feel pressurised which is against the new concept of education. “The new concept is that the learning should not be a burden for the students,” Fr Chackalackal said. The advancing of examinations is to ensure that CBSE results are declared on time. “Unlike other syllabuses CBSE have many subjects and was not restricted to the six or seven subjects we are familiar with. The examinations needed more time to complete as a result. Moreover, the CBSE also conducts many other examinations other than Class X and XII examinations,” Fr Chackalackal added. G Rajamohan, chairman of Saraswathi Vidyalaya, Thiruvananthapuram pointed out that it is very difficult to get required number of working days due to strikes and other holidays. Thus, it is not a good option to hold the exams in February this year. “Such a change can be considered in the next academic year but proper planning should go into it,” Mr Rajamohan added.