New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has clarified that it has not announced any tentative dates for Class-12 practical exams for the 2020-21 academic year which has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Board's announcement came in response to reports and rumours on social media that the Class-12 board exams will be held from January 1 to February 8. However, Board secretary Anurag Tripathi has now said that this was fake news. 

The news spread amid demands from various quarters for cancellation or postponement of Board exams because of rising COVID-19 cases.

"The Board exams will happen for sure and a schedule will be announced very soon. The CBSE is making plans and will soon reveal how it will hold test assessments," he said during a webinar on "New Education Policy (NEP): Brighter future of school education" organised by the ASSOCHAM.

No call on format yet

Tripathi, however, did not comment upon whether the exams will be conducted in the same format and will be held in February-March 2021 as per schedule or will be postponed.

"During March-April we were flummoxed as to how to move forward, but our schools and teachers rose to the occasion and transformed, trained themselves in using new technology for teaching purposes and within a few months conducting online classes using different apps became normal," Tripathi said. 

Noting that a common aim of all education policies including the new National Education Policy (NEP) has been to shift students from rote learning to experiential learning, Tripathi said, "the entire NEP 2020's thrust and the main aim is to make a shift to skill and competency-based education".

Unprecedented academic year

Schools across the country have been closed since March to contain the spread of novel coronavirus and opened partially in some states from October 15. However, a few states decided to keep them closed and some closed again after reopening in view of the latest spike in COVID-19 cases.

The 2020 board exams which had to be postponed mid-way were later cancelled and the results were announced on basis of an alternative assessment scheme.

There have been demands for postponement of board exams to May given the continued closure of schools and the shifting of teaching-learning activities completely online.