Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) is likely to declare the results of its class 10 and class 12 board exams in July despite lockdown restrictions causing a delay of nearly two months in beginning the evaluation process, JAC authorities said on Monday.
“We had to seek clearance from the disaster management department for starting the evaluation of papers. The evaluation process eventually began on May 28,” JAC chairperson Arvind Pratap Singh told The Telegraph Online.
Singh said that the answer sheets of class 10 and class 12 exams are evaluated under CCTV surveillance in special evaluation centres in Jharkhand. All social distancing norms are being followed at the evaluation centres, and the evaluation process is almost complete, he added.
“We might have declared the results in May itself had lockdown restrictions not tied our hands,” said Singh. “Hopefully, the results will be out for class 10 in the first half of July and class 12 in the second half,” he added.
Around 6.21 lakh students had appeared for the board exams under JAC this year at 1410 centres. The exams were held from February 11 till February 28.
The evaluation of papers is being conducted in 67 centres of 19 districts in Jharkhand, said Singh. More than 9,500 evaluators are engaged in the task, he added.
JAC had earlier fixed March 20 for evaluation of examination papers. However, the spread of Covid-19 virus and nationwide lockdown from March 25 proved to be a deterrent for JAC. JAC deferred evaluation till April 1, but it had to further delay the process as lockdown was extended in wake of rising cases of Covid-19 infection, JAC officials said.
Last year, JAC declared its class 10 results on May 16 and class 12 results on May 21.
JAC was formed in 2003 to conduct board examinations for schools that earlier came under Bihar Board in unified Bihar-Jharkhand. In the past 16 years, the council has failed to cross a pass percentage of 70 in science. In commerce, the pass percentage has varied from 65-75.
A majority of students appearing for exams under JAC come from backward and Left Wing Extremism-affected rural areas of Jharkhand.