During the meeting, two options were given to the states by the Center. According to the first option, the students of class 12 will have to appear in the examination of some selected subjects and on the basis of performance in these subjects marks will be issued for other remaining subjects. At the same time, Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia informed about the second option suggested by the Central Government to the states, that the examinations for the students of class 12 can be conducted, but the exam pattern will have to be changed. It will have a single paper of 1.5 hours instead of the traditional 3 hours of different types of questions and it will consist of only multiple-choice questions. However, the Education Minister of Delhi said, “We opposed both options.”

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said that he is confident to able to arrive at an informed, collaborative decision regarding the Class 12th board exams and remove the uncertainty among student’s and parent’s minds by informing them the final decision at the earliest.

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ attended a meeting chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and with other Union Ministers today i.e. on May 23, 2021. In this meeting, the conduction of JEE Main and NEET (UG) 2021 and other entrance exams, including the 12th board examinations of the Central Board – CBSE and ISCE were discussed. The meeting was attended by both Union Ministers as well as Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, and Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre and Education Ministers, Education Secretaries, and State Examination Boards of all states and union territories across the country. Presidents and stakeholders also participated.

The Union Minister of Education gave information in a tweet yesterday, 22 May 2021 that all the Education Ministers and Secretaries of the State Government have been requested to attend this meeting and share their views regarding the upcoming examinations. This virtual meeting was to be held on May 23, 2021, from 11.30 am.

After the second wave of COVID-19, competitive examinations including board exams were postponed. Under this, the CBSE Board has decided to cancel the 10th examinations and promote them on the basis of internal assessment.