The Bihar Education Department has announced that it would promote all students from classes 1 to 8 to the next academic year without holding exams. The decision to promote has been taken keeping in mind the academic loss suffered by students due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Around 1.66 crore students who are currently pursuing their education between Classes 1 to 8, will be promoted to the next academic grade without having to appear for the final exam. The decision will be applicable to all government schools across the state.
The announcement comes at a time when the state is preparing to hold annual exams for over 13 lakh students who are enrolled in Class 9. The exams for Class 9 students are scheduled to be held from February 26 to March 3, 2021. Practical exams for class 9 will begin from March 4, 2021, onwards.
The Bihar government has also decided to run bridge-courses for students of Classes 1 to 8 for the next three months. The announcement was formally made by Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar. "We have decided to conduct catch-up classes for three months to compensate for the academic loss. Students will be taught fundamental topics of the current syllabus so that they don't face any difficulty while studying in the next grade," he said.
The Pratham Education Foundation will be holding the bridge classes and rolling out the new educational policy in the state. The classes will be arranged for around 1.6 crore students enrolled in class 1 to 8 in all government schools across the state, reported Times Now.
Last year in April also, the education department had promoted students of classes 1 to 9 and 11 to the next grade without conducting final exams due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
