Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday reiterated his demand of “vaccination or cancellation” in his suggestions sent to the Central Government on conducting Class 12 Board exams. Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s Education Minister, recommended the tabulation of results taking into account the marks students scored in Class 10, Class 11 and assessment during Class 12 so far.
In a letter to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Sisodia said if experts advise against giving Covishield or Covaxin jabs to Class 12 students, the Centre should procure the Pfizer vaccine which has been approved for children above the age of 12 years.
“If Centre and State Government get on the task together all Class 12 students and teachers involved in the examination process can be vaccinated within three to four weeks,” he added.
“If the Government feels it’s not feasible to vaccinate students at present, then I strongly advocate that the exams should be cancelled and results should be tabulated as per scores obtained in last three years by students in Class 10, 11 and 12,” he said.
Sisodia also urged the Government to call a high-level meeting next month to start discussing the examination format for 2022.
In his letter, Sisodia mentioned, “It is not just the question of the academic future of the 1.4 crore students studying in Class 12 but also about their health.”
“There is hardly any household which has not lost a loved one or an acquaintance and to ask children to appear for an exam in this scenario is not only insensitive but can also prove fatal,” the letter read.
Sisodia also stated that about 95 per cent of students in Class 12 are 17.5 years or older and has urged the Centre to vaccinate them as well after “consulting with experts”. Currently, India does not have the policy of vaccinating its population younger than 18 for Covid. Earlier, Sisodia had said that the Delhi Government was not in favour of holding the CBSE Board exams.
Notably, the Central Board of Secondary Education had, on April 14, announced the cancellation of the Class 10 exams and postponed the Class 12 exams in view of a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases.
