BHUBANESWAR: After a series of meetings, discussions and brainstorming sessions, the state government has not been able to take a final call on holding the Class XII board exams.
Following the CBSE and CICSE cancelling the Class XII exams and a number of state boards doing the same, speculation was rife that Odisha, too, would follow suit.
“We are discussing the matter with all stakeholders.
As we had said earlier, the decision will be taken in the first week of June.
The chief minister will take a call soon,” school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash said on Wednesday.
The major challenge facing the state is how to decide on an alternative assessment since higher secondary schools neither conducted any internal test nor did the students appear for the annual exam in Class XI.
“The task is to come out with a criteria for proper assessment of students.
Last year, when the Covid situation was not as bad as the second wave, the Class XI annual exams were cancelled due to the demand and protest from students.
Now, with schools closed since March last year and with poor response to online classes and no internal tests, how can students be given marks,” Dash wondered.
As uncertainty prevails regarding the annual plus two or higher secondary examination, experts, academics, parents, teachers and students are asking the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) to cancel the Class XII board.
“The government has no viable alternative other than to cancel the Class XII exam in line with CBSE and ICSE as the pandemic situation is still alarming in Odisha.
Government certainly won’t like to conduct the exams at this critical juncture when coming out of home is akin to risking one’s life.
So, in all likelihood, the exams are going to be cancelled,” said Kamala Prasad Mahapatra, an academic.