The Jharkhand Parents Association on Wednesday welcomed the Centre’s decision to cancel the Class 10 and postpone the class 12 board exams in the wake of the growing cases of Covid-19 in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a meeting with Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and other education department officials, took this decision .

Ajay Rai, the president of JPA, said cancelling the board exams was a smart move given the rise in Covid cases and the risk of infection in students if they visit examination centres.

“Risking the well being and health of students would not have been wise in the current circumstances. We also need to consider the fact that students are already under stress during their board exams, and the additional stress of Covid-19 would have made it even more challenging for them,” said Rai.

Manohar Lal, the Ranchi coordinator for CBSE said that around 10,000 class 10 students and 9000 class 12 students were set to appear for the board exams scheduled to begin on May 4 and conclude on June 10 in Jharkhand.

Unlike ICSE, there was no concept of home centre in CBSE, which meant that the students had to appear for the exams in centres away from their homes amid the growing cases of Covid-19 infection if the exams were not cancelled, said members of the JPA.

Utpal Bhowmick, a Ranchi-based lawyer whose son had to appear for the class 10 exams this year, said that his son was under a lot of stress because of his exams and the Covid-19 situation and could not focus on his studies.

Jamshedpur

A section of students in the steel city said that the delay in exams will affect their studies.

Rajiv Kumar, a student who was supposed to appear for the Class XII examination said,"Exams could have been conducted by maintaining social distancing and following other Covid-19 protocols."

From Jamshedpur and its adjoining areas, around 4,000 students were about to appear for the Class XII examinations from as many as 12 CBSE schools.

All schools affiliated to the board have welcomed the Centre’s decision.

"In the wake of the growing number of Covid positive cases across the country, CBSE has taken the right decision to postpone the class 12 board exams. Although the board had increased the number of centres and strict guidelines had been issued to all the centers, the movement of a large number of students to answer their examinations would only make the Covid situation worse. I think the decision has brought relief to all parents whose wards were supposed to answer board examinations this year, " said Namita Agarwal, principal of Jamshedpur Public School.

Dhanbad

Students, parents and teachers of Dhanbad have welcomed the Central Board of Secondary Education’s decision.

“We welcome the decision taken by the CBSE as the safety of students is of paramount importance,” said Dr K.C. Srivastava, Regional Officer of DAV School Group, to The Telegraph Online.

“The decision to prepare the results of class X based on an objective criterion to be developed by the Board is also welcome as it is most likely to be based on the internal examination performance,” said Srivatava and added that those not satisfied with the results will get an opportunity to sit for an exam , as and when the situation improves.

Srivastava has advised students to not stop preparations as they will be faced with more difficulties when they are in Class XI. He said students should simultaneously use the time being spent at home for preparation of professional courses.

Prashant Singh, parent of a class X student of a Dhanbad school, affiliated to CISCE said, “after CBSE we are very anxious about the CISCE examination and expect a similar decision.”

Abhishek Acharya, a class XII student of the Delhi Public School, Dhanbad said, “though from safety point of view the decision is ok but in a country like India where virtual classroom has not been very successful and we have already suffered with respect to practical learning due to cancellation of offline classes the decision has negative aspects also.”

“Due to postponement of class XII exam by June, our career progress will be delayed,” said Acharya.