Chief executive and Secretary of the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) Gerry Arathoon has stated it’s doubtful whether ICSE and ISC 2021 could be held next February, due to the disruption in the school academic calendar this year, concerns about holding public examinations as the pandemic continues, and elections to be held in several states. He further informed that the exams might even be postponed until June.
However, Arathoon made it clear that this was his “personal” viewpoint and that a final decision regarding ICSE and ISC 2021 would be taken after discussing it with the education ministry. The decision would affect more than 60,000 students across Bengal, who would appear for the exams next year.
He told the media that there are very few chances to conduct the examinations anytime before the middle of next year. “Traditionally, ISC starts around the beginning of February, ICSE towards the end of the month. It is not possible to meet that schedule with only two months to go. Schools in several states have not yet opened their campuses for face-to-face learning or to provide guidance to Class X and Class XII examinees,” he added.
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He further stated, “We will wait for a decision from the ministry before taking a call. I will not announce any dates immediately because misinformation will lead to anxiety among candidates. We are adopting a wait-and-watch policy. The pandemic is still raging, and numbers are rising in several states. Unless adequate health precautions can be put in place while taking public examinations, we will not take any risk.”
Additionally, the council has curtailed syllabi in two phases, first in July and again in October, to deal with the school-year disruption.
Seema Sapru, the principal, The Heritage School, said, “This year has been full of challenges. Students are ready for all kinds of uncertainties, having missed out on on-campus school activities. The only help for them if the exams get delayed would be getting more study time.”
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The head of another leading central Kolkata institution raised concerns that candidates applying for ICSE and ISC in 2021 need to depend mostly on self-study. “With the JEE (Mains) proposed to be conducted in February, ISC aspirants of the science stream would have to prepare even if schools do not finish their curriculum on time,” he further said.
The other major concern raised by some Principals is how the new academic year could start unless the current batch of ICSE and ISC students moved forward, although most agreed that holding on-site exams would be a big challenge.
Apart from this, the Bengal government has not yet declared any possible dates for Madhyamik and Higher Secondary examinations. A decision is yet to come from CBSE as well.
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