Jharkhand Academic Council has asked all affiliated schools and colleges to conduct all pending practical examinations from July 23 and upload marks on the council's website latest by July 26 so that the year’s matriculation and intermediate results can be declared on time.

JAC’s directive was issued on Wednesday after it received a nod from the state disaster management department on Tuesday to go ahead with the remaining practical exams.

Around seven lakh students had enrolled for this year’s matric and intermediate exams. Before the lockdown was clamped in the state in April in the wake of second wave of Covid-19, JAC had already conducted offline practical exams for more than 70 per cent students.

In the second week of June, the state government announced cancellation of exams because of the pandemic and directed JAC to develop a mechanism to evaluate board aspirants and publish results on time.

JAC began the evaluation process from July 3 by asking all schools to send marks of internal/practical exams completed before the lockdown. It also submitted a proposal to the state disaster management department on clearing the pending practicalexams.

JAC has devised 80:20 formula. For both classed 10 and 12, 80 per cent marks will be based on student’s performance in the previous year while the remaining 20 per cent will be based on internal assessments or practical exams coducted by schools.

“Before the lockdown, practical exams were already held for more than 70 per cent eligible students. Only a few are left, and exams for them can easily be completed now. Schools were asked to be ready to hold practicals anytime. Everybody was just waiting for formal orders,” said an official.

JAC chairperson Arvind Prasad Singh has said that the evaluation process was on track and that the council was trying to publish results by this month- end. “We began the work fixing July 31 as the target date. If all goes well, we hope to achieve it,” he said.