Lockdown: CBSE announces schedule for pending class 10, 12 board exams; to be held from July 1-15

(Eds: Updating with additional details )

New Delhi, May 18 () The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Monday announced the date sheet for the pending class 10 and 12 board exams, which will now be held from July 1-15 with strict distancing norms in place.

The exams were postponed due to the nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25 to contain the spread of COVID-19.

While class 12 exams will be conducted across the country, the class 10 exams are only pending in North East Delhi, where they could not be held due to the law and order situation in the wake of protests against the amended citizenship act.

"The class 10 exams will be staggered on four dates, starting July 1. The first paper will be of Social Sciences, while the next day students will be required to appear in Science exam," CBSE Controller of Examination Sanyam Bhardwaj said.

"On July 10, exams will be conducted for both courses of Hindi, and on July 15 for both courses of English," he said.

On health guidelines for students, Bhardwaj said, they will be required to carry own sanitiser bottles and wear mask to their examination centres.

"Parents will have to ensure their ward is not sick and candidates will have to strictly follow physical-distancing norms," he said.

The class 12 date sheet has two sections -- one for exams in Northeast Delhi and the other for exams across the country.

In North East Delhi, Physics exam will be held on July 3, Accountancy (July 4), Chemistry (July 6), English (July 8) and Political Science (July 14).

On July 15, four class 12 exams have been scheduled in North East Delhi -- Mathematics, Economics, History and Biology.

For class 12 exams across the country, the Home Science exam will be held on July 1, followed by both courses of Hindi the next day.

The class 12 Business Studies exam has been scheduled for July 9 followed by Biotechnology on July 10, and Geography on July 11. Sociology exam will be held on July 13.

Universities and schools across the country have been closed and exams postponed since March 16 when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

Later, a 21-day nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, which came into effect the next day. It has now been extended till May 31.

The board was not able to conduct class 10 and 12 exams on eight examination days due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Further, due to the law and order situation in North East Delhi, the board was not able to conduct exams on four examination days, while a very small number of students from and around this district were not able to appear in exams on six days.

The board had last month announced that it will only conduct pending exams in 29 subjects which are crucial for promotion and admission to higher educational institutions.

The modalities of assessment for the subjects for which exams are not being conducted will be announced soon by the board.

The schedule has been decided in order to ensure that the board exams are completed before competitive examinations such as engineering entrance JEE-Mains, which is scheduled from July 18-23, and medical entrance exam NEET, which is scheduled on July 26. GJS GJS TIRTIR