The class X and XII students will sit for the board exams on the 28th of this month if the current outbreak of COVID-19 is contained and lockdown lifted. This is one of the three situations the education ministry considered after a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister on Monday.
The ministry said if the current outbreak is contained and lockdown lifted, the exams will be held from February 28 till March 12. The notification also said seven schools offering BCSE TVET and 16 schools offering BHSEC computer studies will start practical exams from February 26.
Schools will have to prepare for the exams either in self-containment mode or walk-in from home as per the feasibility of the schools and approval of the respective Task Forces. All the walk-in students and officials will have to take the RT-PCR test. Their movement should be restricted to their schools and homes.
Supervising examiners and invigilators from within the dzongkhag or Thromde will conduct the exams. The marking will be done centrally in containment mode.
The department of school education will coordinate online registration of stranded students latest by February 21. These students will appear for their exams from the nearest exam centre.
And if there is a sudden surge in new cases a few days before the exam in regions and if the lockdown is reinforced, the exam in the affected schools will be postponed. The exams will be held when the situation improves. But the exams will continue in unaffected schools.
And if new cases surge during the exams, the subject or paper will be suspended for the affected schools. The exams will be conducted when the situation improves. But unaffected schools will continue their exams as scheduled.
If cases continue to rise immediately after the exams, the class X marking will be decentralized to the schools and class XII marking will be done centrally in containment mode.
And in the third option, if the COVID situation worsens in more than half of the schools by March 14, the exam will be conducted only for class XII based on the rescheduled examinations timeline.
There will be no class X exams in this situation. The Continuous Formative Assessment, mid-term and trial marks will be translated for final marks for certification.
Officials will help conduct the trial exams for class X in schools that did not conduct the trial exams. Otherwise, their final marks will be calculated from the continuous formative assessment and mid-term marks.
Meanwhile, the education ministry reschedules the school opening dates. Primary and Lower Secondary Schools will open from March 1. But schools should initiate online lessons for those students who are not able to report on time.
Middle and Higher Secondary Schools will reopen on March 13. But students in schools used for board examination evaluation camps will have to report only on April 11. Class XI boarding students will have to report to schools on May 15.
Kinzang Lhaden
