Schools in Race Against Time to Prepare Students for Practicals

With the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) giving schools the flexibility to conduct the practical exams for Class XII within a 10-day slot beginning Wednesday, a majority of the schools in Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad plan to hold the practicals post-March 12.

Schools say they are still busy with pre-boards and also need adequate time to prepare students for the offline exams. There are some 240 CBSE-affiliated schools in GB Nagar. Neighboring Ghaziabad has about 178 schools affiliated to the central board.

“The 10-day slot for CBSE Class XII practical exams opened on Wednesday. Now schools and examiners will have to coordinate among themselves and mutually fix a date for the practical exams as per their convenience,” Piyush Kumar Sharma, regional officer of CBSE (GB Nagar), told TOI.

“Due to the Covid pandemic, this 10-day slot for the board practicals has been given this year. All Covid-safety protocols will have to be followed in schools during the practical exams. In GB Nagar, the number of students taking the 12th standard exams would be a few thousand,” he added.

However, a majority of the schools in both districts plan to hold the practical exams from the second week of March. “Since our pre-boards are ending on March 12, we will start holding the practicals from the second week only,” said a spokesperson for Shiv Nadar School in Noida.

Some 80 students are likely to appear for grade 12 exams from the school this year. Similarly, DPS Greater Noida intends to hold the practical exams from March 22. “We have 190 students out of a total of 305 of Class 12 who are in the science stream. The board practicals will be conducted from March 22 as we are currently having pre-board exams,” said school principal Sandhya Awasthi.

Amity, Pathways, and Modern schools in GB Nagar also intend to hold the practical exams at a later stage. “We are busy with pre-boards now. We plan to begin the practical exams from March 14,” said Neeraj Awasthy, principal of Modern School, Sector 12.

Schools in Ghaziabad say they are arranging staff and infrastructure for the board practicals. “Some 256 students are excited to appear for the board practical exams this year. Labs and other infrastructure are ready in accordance with all Covid-19 safety protocols,” said Shalini Nambiar, director principal, Seth Anandram Jaipuria School.

On this, the schools have the support of the parents too. “While schools have started offline classes recently, students need time to rehearse their practicals. Besides, the board exams are around 55 days away,” said Manoj Kataria, founder of the GB Nagar Parents Welfare Society (GPWS).

timesofindia.indiatimes.com
https://sajg.jaipuria.edu.in/schools-in-race-against-time-to-prepare-students-for-practicals/