Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made an important announcement for students who have contracted COVID-19. As per the CBSE circular if a student has tested positive then he/she need not worry about his/her lab practical exams.
Exams for such students will be postponed and can be done either in April or even after written exams are over. CBSE circular says such students should just be advised to take rest and be in isolation at home.
The office of the CBSE has said that if any candidate tests positive for COVID-19 and 'is not in a position to appear in the practical exam', the practical for that student can be held at a later date.
Heads of at least two schools said that this decision will reassure parents and students. City schools said the numbers were again on the rise at a time when the Board practical exams had started.
Several schools in Kolkata have either started the Class XII board practicals or will start soon amid rising Covid cases. Three city schools closed down for about a week because of two students and a teacher being tested COVID-19 positive.
But there is still no information regarding theory papers, which are to begin on May 4 (for Classes X and XII). For any board exam-related decision, the schools will have to follow instructions from the board.
Almost every day, a few are reporting sick and are unable to appear for their exams. Both the schools and the kids were under pressure about what would happen to their practical marks because the exams were progressing as per the schedule and they were being marked absent. The written exams for CBSE would begin in May.
Earlier in the week, CBSE allowed students of classes 10, 12 who are appearing for the board exams, to change their exam centres for the practical as well as theory exams considering the COVID-19 pandemic and fresh surge in cases.
As per a CBSE notification, "It has come to the notice of the board that because of COVID-19 pandemic, students of classes 10, 12, along with their families, have shifted to some other city or country and therefore, they are unable to appear in the practical/ theory exam from the school/ exam centre where the students are registered for the board exams."
