2 Million Jharkhand Students of classes 1 to 7 may get promoted without examination this Academic Year

Vinod Kakumanu
Feb. 25, 2021, 3:24 p.m.

The state of Jharkhand will see around 3.2 million students promoted to their respective next classes this year without any examinations. The decision to promote students from class 1 to 7 sans examination is being mulled over, it is consequent to the pandemic-induced lockdown.

Notably, the students were promoted in an identical manner in the academic year 2019-20 as the dates of the examination coincided with the beginning of the nationwide lockdown.

The government has permitted the reopening of schools for classes upwards of 8 from March 2021, however, for classes 1 to 7 nothing has been decided yet.

To compensate for the academic loss incurred in the course of the lockdown, the state is also planning special classes. The agency responsible for charting out the promotion of students and the special classes is Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC).

JPEC spokesperson said that the continued closure of schools along with the uncertainty surrounding the date of reopening has made the conduct of the examinations implausible, hence the decision to promote the students after just a baseline assessment is being considered.

The baseline assessment will give an idea of the academic progress in the period of the lockdown and it will help single out children in need of special classes.

The state had allowed the reopening of the campuses from December 21, 2020, for the students of classes 10 and 12 in view of their board examinations that are scheduled in May 2021.

Later on, the state also permitted the reopening of the schools for classes 8 to 11 effective from February 18, subject to the consent of the parents.

The parents’ body has demanded vaccination for the staff prior to the reopening of schools.