After a meeting between PM Narendra Modi and the education ministers on June 1, it was decided to cancel to CBSE Class 12 exams to protect the health of students amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Now CBSE has constituted a high-power committee to finalise the evaluation criteria for the CBSE Class 12 board exam results 2021.

The committee, which comprises of Ministry of Education Joint Secretary Vipin Kumar; Delhi Education Director Udit Prakash Rai; Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan Commissioner Nidhi Pandey; Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti Commissioner Vinayak Garg; Chandigarh School Education Director Rubinderjit Singh Brar; CBSE Director (IT) Antriksh Johri, CBSE Director (Academics) Joseph Emanuel, and representatives from the CBSE, and UGC among other, will have to submit its report in 10 days.

Following the Centre’s decision, more states called off their board exams, a few others said they will take a call soon. Rajasthan, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand have also cancelled the Class 12 state board exams. Others including Assam, Telangana and Punjab are yet to announce the final decision. A final decision on West Bengal, Jharkhand state board exams in also awaited.

PM Modi had tweeted: “After extensive consultations, we have taken a decision that is student-friendly, one that safeguards the health as well as future of our youth.”

He said, “In today’s time, such exams cannot be the reason to put youth at risk, said the Prime Minister, adding that COVID-19 has already affected the academic calendar and the issue of board exams has been causing immense anxiety among students, parents and teachers.”

“In view of the uncertain conditions due to COVID and the feedback obtained from various stakeholders, it was decided that Class XII Board Exams would not be held this year. It was also decided that CBSE will take steps to compile the results of class XII students as per a well-defined objective criteria in a time-bound manner,” a statement by the Prime Minister's Office said on 1 June.

Following this, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) scrapped the ISC (Class 12) exams for this year, saying that a scheme for evaluating the students will be announced soon.