The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Friday clarified that all regional languages have been kept in the category of minor subjects for first term exams for classes 10 and 12.

The clarification by the CBSE came to the following an objection by Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to keeping Punjabi out of the main subjects.

“I firmly oppose the CBSE’s authoritarian decision to keep Punjabi out of the main subjects. This is against the federal spirit of the Constitution, violating the right of Punjabi youth to learn their native language. I condemn this biased exclusion of Punjabi,” Channi had tweeted.

Responding to his objection, a senior board official said, “As it is known, the CBSE has declared the date sheet of the major subjects of classes 10 and 12 for the term – I Examinations.”

”It is clarified that the classification of the subjects has been done purely on the administrative ground for the purpose of the conduct of first term exam based on the number of candidates appearing in the subject and in no way reflects the subject as minor or major.

Here are 10 key updates every student should know:-

  • Punjab Education Minister Pargat Singh has also criticized the board’s decision, calling it a ‘conspiracy to wean children away from their mother tongue’. ” The step amounted to gross injustice to students of Punjab and was in contravention to the spirit of the Constitution”, he claimed.  Furthermore, he asked the  CBSE to reconsider the decision.
  • Hitting back at Punjab ministers, CBSE clarified that all regional languages have been kept in the category of minor subjects for first term exams for classes 10 and 12.
  • “It is clarified that the classification of subjects has been done purely on the administrative ground for the purpose of the conduct of first term exams based on the number of candidates appearing in the subject and in no way reflects the importance of subjects as major or minor”, a senior board official said.
  • “Every subject is equally important from an academic point of view. Punjabi is one of the regional languages being offered. All the regional languages have been put under the minor category for the purpose of administrative convenience in relation to the logistics required for the conduct of examinations,” the official added.
  • Amid all these, students have demanded that they should have the choice to appear for either online or offline exams this year.
  •  “CBSE should keep Term 1 boards ONLINE. If classes have been held online exams should be too. And besides, they are experimenting with everything in the 2021-22 class 10 and 12th batch… At least they should keep term 1 exam online”, a student wrote on Twitter.
  • The first-term board exams for class 10 will begin from November 30, while the exams for class 12 are scheduled from December 1.
  • The exams will be objective and the duration of the tests will be 90 minutes.
  • The exams will start at 11.30 am instead of 10.30 am in view of the winter season.
  • The exams for minor subjects for class 10 will be conducted from November 17 to December 7, those for class 12 will be conducted from November 16 to December 30. The minor subjects exams will be conducted by schools, through the question paper, provided by the board.