UAE: CBSE firm on exams to be held offline, announces important guidelines

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) held a webinar with school Principals on Saturday, detailing the expectations concerning the Term 1 examination by its affiliated schools and further training teachers to guide their students accordingly. Meanwhile, admit cards have been issued and signed by students and their parents as the Term I exams commences from November 16 for minor subjects. Fatima Martin, Principal/CEO, GEMS New Millennium School - Al Khail, said, "CBSE has been firm with their latest announcement of the Term 1 Board Exams to be held in the offline mode. The guidelines to all schools that are now self-centers are lucid and cover all aspects of dealing with the receding pandemic. The recent CBSE circular also allows provision for those students participating in national or international sports events, to take up the exams at a later date." The current proposed system of offline examination is fraught with concerns for some. Abhilasha Singh, Principal, Shining Star International, Abu Dhabi, says, “Few parents are still wary of sending their children to school. We are getting our students to practice through mock exams. Hopefully, they will fare well.” Students will receive their mark sheet once all their exams are conducted. They will receive a consolidated end-of-year certificate and mark sheet after the conduct of Term II examination. The marks from both these exams will be considered to award the final grade to the student. Teresa Varman, Principal/CEO, GEMS Millennium School – Sharjah, said, “To promote the spirit of sports and facilitate the participation of students in International Olympiads and national sporting events recognised by Sports Authority of India, CBSE has decided to conduct special exams at a later date for all such candidates, because the dates are expected to clash with one another. Where applicable, schools are required to send applications to the concerned Regional Office with the recommendation of the Sports Authority of India.”

“However, no separate or special examination will be conducted for the Term 1 CBSE Board Exams for Grades 10 and 12. If the dates of events coincide with the CBSE Term 1 exam, the final results will be declared based on Term 2 exams. This also applies to students who test positive for Covid-19 during the examinations and cannot take the Term 1 exams. In such cases, the final result will be based on Term 2 exams”, Varman added.

The board has also asked schools to withhold comments like pass/fail/compartmental when declaring results. Deepika Thapar Singh, CEO-Principal, Credence High School, avers, “Practice test series are on to help the students get familiarized with the new OMR sheet and to make them more confident. The recent webinar held by CBSE was extremely informative, and we are confident that the exams will be conducted smoothly and efficiently.” Zubair Ahmad, Head of Operations, Springdales School Dubai, says, “While enlisting the responsibility of every designated center official, the board has ensured the smooth and fair conduct of the exam. This is going to be a landmark collaborative initiative where each stakeholder has to play their role with conscience and diligence.” (Source: Khaleej Times)