As the exercise of conducting exams hangs in limbo, the Union Human Resource Development Ministry on Tuesday announced that the decision on CBSE Board examinations for Class 10 and 12 will be taken soon.

The new schedule would be announced soon after that on the official site of CBSE at cbse.nic.in.

The ministry has also asked students to keep an eye on the official site of the board.

On April 29, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had said that its decision to take board exams for 29 subjects of Class 10 and 12 stands the same as mentioned in circular dated April 1, 2020.

The CBSE had also made it clear that it will conduct the board examination after the lockdown period is over.

“Recently there has been a lot of speculation regarding CBSE Class 10th board exams. It is reiterated that the board’s decision to hold the exams for 29 subjects of Class 10 and 12 stands the same as mentioned in the circular dated April 1, 2020,” it said in a tweet.

Talking about the board examinations, Union Human Resources Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishak had said: “Out of the 83 exams of CBSE for Class 10 and 12, 29 will be held. The marks of the remaining optional exams will be based on internal assessment. The exams for 29 papers will be conducted after the situation becomes normal. The students should continue with their studies.”

The HRD Ministry also had refuted rumours about the cancellation of the board examinations. The ministry said that as soon as the situation becomes normal, the board examinations of Class 10 and 12 will be conducted.

“The students of Class 10 and 12 will be promoted only after the board examinations. There is no plan to promote them without examination,” Nishak had said.

Earlier, in a meeting with the education ministers and education secretaries of all the states, Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia, had asked the Centre to release the results of the students only on the basis of internal examination by not having the remaining board exams of Class 10 and 12.

“It will not be possible to conduct the remaining exams of the CBSE’s Class 10 and 12. Therefore, children should be promoted on the basis of internal examination as the children of Class 9 and 11 have passed,” he suggested.

However, both the Union Human Resource Development Ministry and the CBSE rejected this suggestion of the Delhi government. The CBSE said that there are no plans to admit students to the next class without taking board exams.

Meanwhile, in a notification on April 1, the board had announced that all Class 1-8 students of CBSE will be promoted to the next level.

In wake of COVID-19 outbreak, the CBSE had postponed all board examinations for Class 10 and 12 scheduled between March 19 and March 31.

Meanwhile, IIT-JEE (Main) examination is slated to be held on July 18, 20, 21, 22, and 23. IIT-JEE Advance exam will be held in August, the date of which will be announced later. NEET exam will be held on July 26, the Union Human Resources Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal informed.

Regarding JEE and NEET exams, the Delhi government had suggested reducing 30 per cent in the syllabus for all classes and also in the courses.