Will Government cancel the Board Exams 2021, with the rising Covid-19 cases

Rising Covid-19 cases in India are alarming. The trends suggest that the novel coronavirs is affecting youth and children in larger numbers this time compared with the previous peak reported in Delhi in August and November last year.

The morbidity and mortality due to infection, however, continue to be higher among the elderly and those with pre-existing comorbidities. Younger people are going out a lot. They feel even if they are infected, it will only cause mild symptoms,” said Dr Randeep Guleria, director, AIIMS. It was important to realise that the youngsters could become super-spreaders if they do not follow Covid-appropriate behaviour while going out, and eventually lead to more cases among the high-risk groups.

The daily cases began to rise again in March and have been stadely increasing since. “There is a surge in admissions due to Covid-19 over the past week. It involves all age groups, but complications are seen more in the elderly,” said Dr Rommel Tickoo, associate director, internal medicine, Max Saket.

The concern is on the upcoming CBSE board exams 2021, where thousands of students across the country are going to appear starting from 4 May 2021. However, the Central Board for Secondary Education has reiterated that the examinations will be conducted as per schedule, parents and students are now requesting the Indian Government to cancel or postpone board exams due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

The chorus for cancellation of examination has grown louder after the Government of Maharashtra decided to promote students from classes 1 to 8 without them having to give exams.

There are experts says, when the students have studied online throughout the year then why they could not appear the exam through on-line. Hence, many have requested for the examinations to be conducted online. There are technologies are available to take the exam on-line on appropriate manner. “We can do it online because Bharat is clearly witnessing a second wave and in this scenario, anything that causes crowding must be avoided.

A point to be noted, if offline exams happen right now then we are taking a huge risk. Health must get priority over examinations,” says a student. If we become infected with Corona virus, then who will be responsible for it?

However, the board has made it clear that the examinations will be conducted from 4 May, and has also advised parents and students to refrain from believing in or circulating news with regard to cancellation or postponement of exams. “There are some persons deliberately trying to create confusion about board exams by circulating old news of 1.4.20 regarding Xand XII exams. Students should ignore this old circular of last year and not be misled,” says CBSE.