Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal on Thursday, 10 December, said that a decison on postponement of competitive exams will be taken depending an assessment of the situation that prevails next year.
Responding to the question of a student during his live interaction with students, Dr Pokhriyal said that the Ministry is actively considering to increase the number of rounds for competitive exam JEE Main from two to three or even four, if necessary.
At the moment, JEE Main is only conducted twice in a year.
He said that while the Central Board of Secondary Education has already slashed its syllabus by 30 percent, a call on reducing the syllabus of competitive entrance exams or delaying them will be taken depending on the prevailing situation.
Dr Pokhriyal said that since a lot of state boards haven’t reduced their syllabus, the Ministry is discussing the extent to which the syllabus for JEE and other exams are to be reduced “so that a student who has covered 100 percent of the syllabus as well as someone who has covered only 80 percent of the syllabus can attempt the exam successfully.”
Minister Takes Questions From Students
The decision was announced by the minister on his Twitter handle, days after in a high-level meeting conducted by the ministry it had decided to take a call on board exams following suggestions from the student, parent and teacher community.
Dear all, 2020 has been a year of a great many changes like adjusting to #onlineeducation, adapting to #newnormal.
Happy to share that I am going live on Dec 10 to talk about upcoming competitive/board exams with you.
Drop your concerns below using #EducationMinisterGoesLive. pic.twitter.com/E9bigQQRaL— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) December 2, 2020
What We Know About CBSE Boards, JEE Main So Far
The live address comes at a time when the Central Board of Secondary Education has ruled out the possibility of conducting Class 10 and 12 board exams online, while adding that only pen-and-paper written exams will be held.
“The exams, as and when they are be conducted, will be in written mode and not in an online mode. The exams will be conducted following all COVID protocols.”CBSE Statement
CBSE also said that while dates for board and practicals have not been decided, for students who have not been able to attend practical classes, alternative methods will be used to award marks under practicals.
Meanwhile, earlier reports had indicated that the first phase of JEE Main 2021 could be postponed from January to February due to ongoing admissions and the COVID pandemic.
