The cancellation of board examinations of classes 10 and 12 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Thursday may also have an impact on admissions in central universities and competitive examinations conducted by the CBSE. The exams which were scheduled to begin from July 1 to 15 were cancelled due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, the CBSE informed the Supreme Court.
The Joint Entrance Examination i.e. JEE Mains examination is scheduled to be held from July 18-23 through which students get admission in government and private engineering colleges. The JEE Advanced exam is scheduled to take place on August 23 through which students get admission in the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) across the country.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam is also scheduled for July 26 on the basis of which students get admission in medical colleges for MBBS and other medical courses. However, after CBSE's announcement, the future of these examinations is under a cloud.
The examinees of class XII students of CBSE Board will, however, have the option of either taking the exams later or to move ahead with the assessment based on their performance in the last three internal exams. The re-exam option will not be available to class X students.
A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar took note of submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the CBSE, that Class X and XII board examinations scheduled from July 1-15 have been cancelled. He said a scheme has been formulated to give options to students of XII only -- for re-examination or assessment based on past performance.
The CBSE said the re-exam would be conducted when the situation becomes conducive and the option to take up the re-exam would not be available to class X examinees. The results may be declared in mid-August, the CBSE said on being asked by the court to clarify as to when the academic year will begin after the declaration of results.
The top court asked the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Centre to issue a fresh notification on class XII exams dealing with issues including the option of re-examination and internal assessment, date of results and status of re-examination keeping in mind the COVID-19 situation in different states. The bench said the CBSE notification should indicate the scheme for internal assessment and give a timeline.
