Punjab CM Amarinder Singh writes to Centre seeking postponement of CBSE class 10, 12 board exams

At a time when there is a growing demand among students, parents and various political leaders across the country to cancel the CBSE Board Exams 2021, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday urged the Central government to postpone the board exams in the wake of the rising cases of coronavirus.

The Chief Minister has written to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, pointing to the prevailing situation and stressing that “it would only be appropriate that a decision is taken forthwith to postpone the Class X and XII Board examinations.” This, he said, would also allow the Union Government and States to plan better for the conduct of examinations once the situation normalizes.

The letter from the Punjab Chief Minister comes at a time when PM Modi is holding a crucial meet with Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to discuss the future course of action related to CBSE Board Exams 2021.

On Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had urged the Central government to cancel the CBSE Class 10 and 12 board exams and explore alternative methods, including online exams.

Saying that holding CBSE Board exams at this time may contribute to the large-scale spread of the virus, Kejriwal had said that the exam centres could emerge as major hotspots.

“Six lakh children in Delhi are going to write CBSE exams. Nearly one lakh teachers will be a part of it. These (the centres) can become major hotspots leading to large-scale spreading of corona. Children’s lives and health are very important to us. I request the Centre to cancel the CBSE exams,” he had said.

The CBSE Board examinations for classes X and XII are currently scheduled to commence from May 4. The Punjab Board has broadly aligned its examination dates with those of CBSE.

• Amarinder Singh
• CBSE
• Punjab CM
• board exams
• Covid-19
• coronavirus