Postpone Maharashtra Class 10, 12 board exams, teachers request education department

While schools in the state began to operate online in June, several teachers are now worried that students might not be able to prepare themselves for the board exams in case they are conducted as per the regular schedule.

Several teachers in Maharashtra have requested the state education department to postpone Class 10 and 12 board examinations for the current academic year (2020-21) considering the disturbed academic calendar due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the resultant lockdown.

While schools in the state began to operate online in June, several teachers are now worried that students might not be able to prepare themselves for the board exams in case they are conducted as per the regular schedule. While HSC (Class 12) exams are conducted in the month of February, SSC (Class 10) exams are held in March. “This year however, both students and teachers are under a lot of stress as online learning is still not at par with physical classes. We hope that the government considers pushing the board exams to April so that students get some more time to prepare,” said Anil Bornare of the BJP teachers’ cell.

Teachers said that the education department should also clear as to how oral/practical exams should be conducted. “Right now, there is a lot of uncertainty around this. Students prepare for the board exams well in advance and hence it is important to convey them the specific details of the same well in advance,” said the teacher of a BMC school in the eastern suburbs.

Officials from the education department said that a decision is yet to be taken in this regard.

In July, the education department announced a 25% reduction in the syllabus for state board students of Classes 1 to 12. The decision will be applicable for the current academic year 2020-21 and has been taken considering the possible loss of teaching hours as physical schools are yet to reopen due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While some chapters have been reduced from languages, the grammar next to these chapters will still be taught and considered for assessments. For practicals, care is taken to ensure that they are edited as per the current conditions and concepts to be taught in these exercises will be retained.