CBSE Board Exams 2021: Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, over one lakh students of classes 10 and 12 have signed petitions urging the government to either cancel board exams scheduled to be held in May or conduct them in online mode. The hashtag “cancelboardexams2021” has been trending on Twitter for the past two days.

In response, the Central Board of Secondary Education on Thursday made a big announcement on the development and said adequate safety arrangements are being made for students and all COVID-19 guidelines will be followed during the exams. The statement has jointly been issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.

Speaking to news agency PTI, a senior CBSE official said with COVID guidelines in place, the exam centres across the country have been increased by 40-50 per cent to ensure social distancing among students during the exam.

“Adequate arrangements are being made to ensure the students are safe and all COVID protocols are followed. The number of exam centres has been increased by 40-50 per cent to ensure social distancing. The staff at exam centres is being sensitised to ensure all guidelines are followed,” a senior CBSE official said.

Last week, the CBSE had announced that if any student fails to appear for the ongoing practical exams after testing positive, the schools will re-conduct tests for them at an appropriate time. However, the CBSE official did not comment on whether the same relaxation will be given to students in theory exams as well.

On the other hand, Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary at CISCE, said the schedule for CBSE Board Exams 2021 “will remain the same”.

The announcement from the CBSE comes at a time when over one lakh students of classes 10 and 12 have signed an online petition urging the government to either cancel board exams scheduled to be held in May or conduct them in online mode.

Soon after they signed the online petition, the hashtag “cancelboardexams2021” started trending on Twitter for the past two days.

“The situation in India is getting worse day by day. When there were only a few cases in the country, they cancelled the remaining board exams and now when the cases are at a peak they are planning to open schools. We urge the education minister to look into this matter and cancel all examinations to be held this year as students are already under a lot of stress,” a petition on Change.org said.