Bhubaneswar: With the fate of class XII students hanging in the balance due to the pandemic situation, the Central government is all set to take a decision on Sunday over the proposals for the conduct of annual Plus II examination and entrance examinations for professional courses.
According to reports, a decision on the timing and modalities to conduct the exam will be taken in a high-level virtual meeting with Education Ministers, Education Secretaries and Chairpersons of State Examination Boards and all stakeholders of the states and Union Territories (UT) tomorrow (May 23), the Ministry of Education said.
The meeting will be chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in presence of Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.
According to sources, the Education ministry has prepared two sets of blue print to conduct the examination- first is to hold examination of key subjects and the other one is to hold objective type pattern examination. The results of the examination will be announced within 15 days of the completion of the annual test.
Like other state boards, the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), Odisha is also keeping a close eye on the decision of the Central government so that it could reach a final conclusion.
“There must be some kind of examination, else students will suffer. I suggest to conduct examination for a duration of 90 minutes with only objective-type question pattern,” suggested Prabodh Kumar Panda, former CHSE Deputy Controller.
Meanwhile, students in Odisha have expressed anguish over the inordinate delay in the decision making and demanded a formal announcement on the examination.
“The delay in class XII examination has pushed us into deep trouble making it very tough for us to attend any entrance examination with proper revision. The board must announce if the exams will be conducted, or not, as soon as possible,” said Shivangi Vikash Mishra, a class XII student.
Echoing the same view, Umesh Sahoo, another Plus II student said, “It is almost a year but it is still unclear whether the examination will be conducted. The government should take a decision quickly.”