It has been over a week since the state announced the cancellation of Class 12 Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) board examinations but, the assessment policy has not been released yet. On Friday, Varsha Gaikwad, school education minister of Maharashtra, said the revised assessment policy and the date of the result for Class 12 HSC students will be announced soon by the board.
Sources from the state school education department said the assessment policy for Class 12 HSC students will be announced after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declares marking criteria for CBSE Class 12 in order to avoid disparities in results. A senior official of the department said, "The main aim is to avoid disparities in results by developing a uniform policy."
The official added, "Unlike Class 10, Class 12 results serve as an eligibility criteria for major competitive exams such as the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) Undergraduate (UG) for admissions to medical and dental courses. In addition, large number of students plan to study abroad after Class 12. Also, the admission criteria to regular UG courses in degree colleges is based on Class 12 results irrespective of the board. We need to consider all these factors and then devise an unbiased assessment policy for Class 12 HSC students."
The principal of a CBSE affiliated school on request of anonymity said, "As the CBSE has given schools time till June 28, to complete Class 12 pending internal assessments via online mode and upload marks, the objective criterion might be declared post June 28. However, we are expecting a decision soon so that other boards can follow suit and declare assessment policy for Class 12 students."
Gaikwad said, "Following the cancellation of state board exams for Class 12 due to the pandemic, the state government has permitted the board to pass all Class 12 HSC students based on internal assessments." Students, schools and junior colleges await a decision regarding assessment policy from the state school education department.
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