JK Board of School Education (BOSE) is working out a plan to give relaxation in syllabus to students of class 10 to 12 in annual exams.
The move has been initiated in view of continuous closure of the schools due to coronavirus pandemic.
A top official said BOSE was also holding deliberations to hold the bi-annual exams of class 12 students who are appearing either as fresh private candidates or had failed to qualify the annual exams in 2019.
“Both the issues are on the priority list of the Board. The issues will be discussed in the Board’s academic committee and the final decision will be taken within a week or 10 days,” the official said.
He said the bi-annual exam was supposed to be held in April but got delayed due to the pandemic.
“So, we are exploring all options about holding the exams. We have different categories of candidates who have applied for bi-annual exams including fresh private candidates while some have backlog in one or two subjects and others have to reappear in all subjects,” the official said.
About relaxation for students in syllabus for their upcoming annual class 10 to 12 exams, the official said it will take them around 10 days to finalise the pattern of the relaxation in the syllabus.
“We will work out a detailed plan. As of now, we have not decided the pattern under which the relaxation will be given to students. We will chalk out a plan how to go ahead with it,” the official said.
He said the academic committee constituted to deliberate these issues will submit its recommendations to the government and the final announcement about the relaxation in syllabus will be made after getting approval from the government.
“Giving relaxation to the syllabus is a policy matter and the final decision has to be taken by the government,” he said.
The official said there were two options being explored by the Board which include a cut in syllabus and to go with the pattern of relaxation given to students in annual exams in 2016.
“In 2016, attempt to cover 60 percent questions was considered as 100 percent. There was no deletion or cut off of any portion in the syllabus but students had to attempt only 60 percent questions,” he said.
The official said the deletion of a particular portion of syllabus would not be fruitful for students as there was no clarity about how many and which topics the students have learned during the online classes or through e-content provided to them by the schools.
After the closure of educational institutions in March, there was no class work and the department switched to an online mode of education to compensate the academic losses.
The department conducted online classes for more than four months and prepared e-content for students as well.
For the past few weeks, the teachers have started community schooling in rural areas as well keeping in view the inaccessibility of students to the internet.
“So, deletion of a particular portion of syllabus will not be a good decision, but providing other choices will help students in the exams keeping in view the prevailing situation,” the official said.
Chairperson JKBOSE, Veena Pandita said conduct of bi-annual exams and relaxation in syllabus for annual exams was on priority list and will be resolved soon.