CBSE Class 10, 12 board exams, JEE Main and NEET 2021: Big announcement on syllabus, eligibility criteria and latest updates

As concerns of students and teachers over CBSE Class 10, 12 Board exams 2021 rises, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ this week made several major announcements. As confusion over the syllabus of JEE Main and NEET continues, the Ministry of Education also clarified on the matter. As per an official release, the exact pattern for NEET (UG) 2021 is yet to be announced.

As concerns of students and teachers over CBSE Class 10, 12 Board exams 2021 rises, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ this week made several major announcements. Addressing a webinar with students and faculty of the Kendriya Vidyalaya across the country, the Education Minister addressed the queries of the students.

Pokhriyal asserted that the questions of the exams will be based on the reduced syllabus as per the 2020 curriculum that was announced keeping in mind the coronavirus outbreak. “The students will only have to study the revised syllabus for their CBSE board exams. The questions will only be asked from that portion,” he said. 

Speaking on physical classes and reopening of schools, he said that that online classes will remain an option for students who are not able to physically join the school. He stated that physical classes will resume and there will be a 50-50 per cent balance between online classes and attending classes physically. He added that once it is confirmed that it is safe to ask students to attend schools physically only then a decision will be taken to continue online classes. 

Some of the issues raised by students with Pokhriyal:

1. Conduct Class 9th and 11th exams online: The Education Minister decided not to respond directly but said that the CBSE and other boards are aware of the hardships faced by the students this academic session due to COVID-19 and this is the reason why exams are based on the reduced syllabus.

2. Online school instead of offline classes: Pokhriyal said that online classes will remain an option for students who are not able to physically join the school. 

The Union Education Ministry has already announced that board exams for Classes 10 and 12 will be conducted from May 4 to June 10, even though the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is yet to release an examination date-sheet.

Over 3 lakh students have registered from the Delhi region for the Class 10 CBSE board exam, while over 2.5 lakh candidates have registered for the Class 12 exam. The Delhi government has suggested that schools conduct pre-board exams for Class 12 from March 20 to April 15 and Class 10 pre-board exams from April 1 to April 15.

Pokhriyal interacted with the students of Kendriya Vidyalaya to motivate and encourage them to focus on their academics despite the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the school education. Earlier on various occasions, Union Education Minister interacted with students, teachers, professors, and parents, taking their opinions about how the education sector can go forward with minimum impact on students, post COVID-19 pandemic.

As confusion over the syllabus of JEE Main and NEET continues, the Ministry of Education also clarified on the matter. It stated that the syllabus of JEE Main and NEET will remain unchanged for 2021 and continue as that of the previous year. However, unlike previous years, this year the candidates will have options to answer the questions in JEE and NEET examinations.

Students will be given choice to answer 75 questions (25 questions each in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics) out of 90 questions (30 questions each in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics). In JEE (Main) 2020, there were 75 questions all of which had to be answered by the candidates (25 questions each in Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics).

As per an official release, the exact pattern for NEET (UG) 2021 is yet to be announced. However, in view of reduction of the syllabus by some boards across the country, the NEET (UG) 2021 question paper will also have options on the lines of JEE (Main).

The Ministry of Education on Tuesday announced relaxation in admission criteria for NITs and centrally funded technical institutions by waiving off the requirement of 75 per cent marks in class 12. The release stated, "Considering the decision taken for IIT JEE (Advanced) and in line with the decision taken for the last academic year, the Ministry of Education has also decided to waive off the 75 per cent marks (in class 12 exam) eligibility criteria under Joint Entrance Examination (Main) for the next academic year 2021-2022 in respect of NITs, IIITs, SPAs and other CFTIs, whose admissions are based on JEE (Main).

In the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) had last year relaxed norms for admissions into National Institute of Technology (NITs) and Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs). As per the relaxation, NITs will admit undergraduate students based on their performance in Joint Entrance Exam-Mains (JEE-Mains) and will discount the class 12 board examination marks in the selection process.

Earlier, along with the performance in JEE-Mains, NITs used to demand either 75 per cent mark in the board examinations or a place in the top 20 percentile of their respective boards.