The Central Board of Secondary Examinations (CBSE) will announce the board exam dates very soon, the Education Minister said

The board examinations for Class 10 and 12 will not be held in February and the final dates are still being discussed, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said on Tuesday.

"As far as the final dates for the examinations are concerned, Board exams will not be held in the month of February and CBSE will very soon announce the dates after discussion with the stakeholders," an official statement quoted the minister saying during an online interaction with teachers across the country.

The Central Board of Secondary Examinations (CBSE) was, however, making all preparations for the board exams, he added. "Being a student-centric government, we have always worked in the interest of the students," he assured the teachers.

Speaking on the schedule and syllabus of entrance examinations, the Minister said that the syllabus of JEE (Main) 2021 examination will remain the same as last year.

However, in order to overcome the impact of reduction of syllabus undertaken by some Boards, the question papers for JEE (Main) 2021 will have 90 questions (30 question each in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics), out of which the candidate will have to answer 75 questions (25 questions each in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics), he added.

Steps Being Taken To Bridge Digital Divide

The system of online education had been successful due to the efforts made by the teachers. he said.

However, in order to overcome the digital divide due to lack of gadgets and sufficient network, the Ministry of Education has initiated the “coherence” model under PM E-Vidya. The content available online on DIKSHA is now available through Swayam Prabha TV channel as well, the Education Minister said. It will be available on radio also.

"Therefore it will not be necessary to have access to the internet only as TV and radio will also be coherent with online content," he explained.

The Swayam Prabha DTH channels are meant to support and reach out to those students who do not have access to the internet. A total of 32 channels are devoted to telecast high quality educational programmes, he informed. "Of these, 12 TV channels are earmarked for the one class, one TV channel under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Programme for the Department of School Education and Literacy," he said.

Radio broadcasting is being used for children in remote areas who are not online. The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is producing high quality audio and radio programs with effective media treatment. There are about 2000 audio-radio programmes produced by CIET-NCERT in Hindi, English, Urdu and Sanskrit.

During the interaction, the Education Minister expressed his gratitude to all the teachers for spreading awareness relating to COVID-19 and for participating with full sincerity in the war against the pandemic.