Board exams 2021: CISCE defers ICSE, ISC exams due to COVID-19; final decision in first week of June

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has postponed the ICSE (Class 10) and ISC (Class 12) board exams in light of the COVID-19 surge across India. The CISCE said that the board will closely monitor the COVID-19 situation in the country and the deferment of the ICSE and ISC 2021 board examinations will be reviewed. “A final decision on the conduct of the board examinations will be taken by the first week of June 2021,” CISCE chief executive and secretary Gerry Arahtoon said in a statement released on the official website. This comes a day after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced that the Class 10 board exams will be cancelled while the Class 12 exams are postponed. The ICSE exam was scheduled to begin on 4 May and would end on 7 June, while ISC would have concluded on 18 June, as per the initial timetable. Arahtoon on Friday also said that while the ISC (Class 12 board examination) will be conducted at a later date, candidates for the ICSE (Class 10 board examination) will be given the option to “write the offline examination along with the Class 12 candidates or not to write the offline examination”. In case students opt not to write the offline examination, the “CISCE will develop a fair and unbiased criterion while preparing the results of such candidates”, the CISCE chief executive added. While announcing the postponement of CBSE exams on Wednesday, 14 April, the Education Ministry had said that, unlike the state boards, CBSE has an all-India presence, and therefore, the exams should be held simultaneously throughout the country. Since CISCE is also a national board, the ICSE and ISC exams also have to be held simultaneously. Maharashtra state board has already deferred the exams for both Class 10 and 12. Similarly, Tamil Nadu Board, RBSE, and HPBOSE have also postponed the examinations. The board exams for Jamia Millia Islamia school which were supposed to be held from Thursday have also been postponed. The Karnataka State Board has not changed its board exam schedule. Goa board exams for classes 10 and 12 are also scheduled to begin on 24 April.