The Delhi government has reportedly requested the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to postpone board exams until May 2021 and also to reduce the syllabus since schools are still closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to reports, in a letter to the CBSE, the Directorate of Education pointed out that a huge portion of the 2020-21 academic year has not been utilised for the classroom teaching-learning process since schools in Delhi are closed until October 31, 2020. Therefore the request was being made to allow “reasonable time to study in schools”.
The letter written by Additional Director of Education Saroj Bala Sain to the Controller of Examinations, states, “A major chunk of time of Academic Session 2020-2021 (approximately 7 months) could not be utilised for classroom teaching-learning process as schools in Delhi are closed till October 31, 2020. Though the Directorate of Education has conducted online/semi-online teaching-learning activities through live classes as well as worksheets/activity sheets, the online teaching-learning process cannot replace the physical classroom teaching-learning process”.
“In order to provide students with a reasonable time to study in person in schools, it is requested that the on-going academic session be extended beyond March and CBSE board exams be conducted not before May 2021. Consequently, the next academic session may commence from July 2021,” it added.
The department has also requested a further reduction of the syllabus for the current academic session, bearing in mind the current COVID-19 situation and the remaining time available in the session for classroom teaching.
The DoE said, “The CBSE had reduced 30 per cent of the syllabus in all subjects in anticipation of the opening of schools in July but schools in Delhi are closed till October 31. It is also requested that sample question papers aligned with the further-reduced syllabus for the session 2020-21 may be prepared as per the latest question paper design and made available for the students at the earliest”.
It added, “Practical and project work are an integral part of any subject that include assessment of desired skills and competencies. It is pertinent to give students hands-on practice for the same for a sufficient period of time. It is requested that the board may provide detailed guidelines regarding the conduct of these practical exams under such conditions or any other alternate mode to replace the practical part of the subject”.
