State seeks opinion on holding Madhyamik, HS examinations

Kolkata: The state government has invited opinion through email from the general public, students and their guardians/parents about holding of the Madhyamik and Higher Secondary examinations 2021 in view of the current Covid situation.

"Our children's future is my greatest priority. To this regard, we have formed an expert committee to decide over holding the Class 10th & 12th board exams in 2021.We are also inviting views & opinion from parents, general public, sector experts, civil society & students. I request each one of you to send us your feedback on the issue by e-mailing us on following addresses by June 7th, 2021, 2 PM.- [email protected]@[email protected] suggestions will be valuable to us," tweeted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

A notice undersigned by Manish Jain, Principal Secretary of School Education department that was released on Sunday has sought opinion by 2 pm on Monday at three email addresses: pbssm.spo@gmailcom,[email protected] and [email protected] .

The notice has also invited views about the mode of holding examinations if somebody feels that it is necessary to do so and if somebody believes it is not right to hold examinations in view of the Covid situation then he/she has been asked to suggest the mode of evaluation criteria for assessment of the students.

The state government has already constituted a six-member expert committee to review the situation and recommend on these points. The committee has already submitted its report to the department. According to sources in the state Education department the committee is of the opinion that conduct of examinations in physical mode by bringing students in their respective schools may turn out to be a risky affair in the current Covid situation. It has suggested holding of higher secondary examination in similar pattern like the college and university examination by sending question papers in online mode to the students. In case of Madhyamik examination, the committee has suggested assessment on the basis of class IX annual examinations and overall projects through out the year.

The CBSE and ISCE Board has already scrapped both class X and class XII examinations in view of the uncertain conditions due to COVID-19.