Chief Minister Hemant Soren has urged the Union HRD ministry and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to take a call on the conduct of Class 12 board examination only after extensive consultations with all stakeholders and a realistic assessment of the ground situation viz-a-viz Covid cases.

Hemant, who was speaking at a virtual meeting organised by the ministry, along with CBSE, said he would also send a detailed letter to the Centre on feedback he was collating from students, parents and teachers of Jharkhand.

“I believe that exams are an important yardstick to decide the future of our students in their larger interest. But I am firmly of the belief that safety and wellbeing of our young brains is also important. I appreciate the options devised by the Union government for conduct of the exams but we must meet again at a later date with a realistic picture of the ground reality before zeroing on specific dates,” he said.

Among those who attended Sunday's meeting were Union ninisters Rajnath Singh (defence), Ramesh Pokhriyal (education), Smriti irani (women and child development) and education ministers from states and board officials.

Appreciating his concern, Singh asked Hemant to send his letter of suggestions and expectations within two days for the Centre to dwell on them. He also asked other states to do the same in case they had specifics to communicate.

At the meeting, CBSE suggested two options. Under the first one, the board proposed to conduct the examination only for major subjects at designated examinations centres. It proposed a date around July 15.

In the second option, the board proposed conducting the examination in 45 days in two phases from the first week of August. Instead of three hours, the papers will be of 90 minutes and students could sit for the major subjects in their own schools. The examinations are proposed to be held on OMR sheets for quick evaluation.

In his presentation, Hemant said that while the spread of the virus had to some extent halted in urban areas, his government’s focus was now on villages.“We must consider multifarious aspects before taking a call. To begin with, a realistic picture of the impact of Covid-19 must be ascertained. During this second wave, many students were orphaned. Some were infected themselves. We must take into account the mental condition of students and their families before deciding on exams,” he said.