Union Minister of Human Resources and Development Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ hosted a review meeting with officials of Central Board of Secondary Examinations (CBSE), University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and National Testing Agency (NTA) on June 18 to discuss the immediate future of the education department. 

This meeting was organised immediately after the Supreme Court’s declaration to CBSE to reconsider conducting the examinations that they had initially scheduled to host in the month of July.

The apex court has asked CBSE to consider evaluating the students on the basis of their internal marks. The minister took to Twitter to discuss the events of the meeting. 

Events of the meeting

“Held a video conference with the Secretary Higher Education, Secretary School Education and Literacy Department, and  Chairpersons of @ugc_india, @AICTE_INDIA, @cbseindia29, DG of @DG_NTA and deliberated about various issues related to education,” tweeted the minister on his official Twitter handle. 

According to the minister, during the meeting, the discussion revolved around the present condition of the education department and the innumerable issues that are required to overcome for smooth sailing of the academic calendars.

The meeting was conducted via video conferencing and was participated by Secretary Higher Education, Secretary School Education and Literacy Department, and the Chairperson of UGC, AICTE, CBSE and NTA.

Updates from the departments

All the departments are expected to update students, teachers, and people their decisions regarding the present situation and how they hope to overcome these pertaining issues. 

1. CBSE is yet to declare their decision regarding the examinations and the Supreme Court’s order by 23 June. Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, had written a letter to the HRD Minister shortly after the Supreme Court’s order, requesting a cancellation of the board exams. 
2. Competitive examinations such as JEE and NEET, that are conducted by NTA, had scheduled their examinations to be held in July. However, there has been no update regarding this. Odisha Chief Minister, in a letter, requested these examinations to be postponed, preferably after Class 12 or HSC examinations of all states have been completed. 

As for the time being, pending CBSE examinations are still scheduled to be held between 1 to 15 July; JEE is expected to be held between 18 to 23 July, and NEET 2020 should be held on the 26 July.  Around 10 lakhs, 12 lakhs and 16 lakhs of students are expected to appear for the examinations in the respective order. 

Source-The Times Now