Even as the demands for postponement of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board exams continue to grow lowder, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Friday held the CBSE "downright irresponsible" for holding exams amid COVID-19 spike.
"It is downright irresponsible of boards like the CBSE to force students to sit for exams under the prevailing circumstances. Board exams should either be cancelled, rescheduled or arranged in a manner that does not require the physical presence of children at crowded exam centres," Priyanka Gandhi tweeted.
The Congress leader also launched a veiled attack on the government and said that the education system needs to start reflecting sensitivity and compassion towards children.
"While corona is ravaging our country again, the added pressure of exams is bound to affect the mental health of children. Our education system needs to drastically alter its attitude and start reflecting sensitivity and compassion towards children rather than just talk about it at their conclaves and conferences," Priyanka said in another tweet.
Earlier, over one lakh students of classes 10 and 12 signed petitions urging the CBSE, and government to either cancel the board exams or conduct them in online mode. The hashtag "cancelboardexams2021" has been trending on Twitter for the last two days.
As per revised CBSE date sheet, the board exams for class 10 are scheduled between May 4 and June 7, while class 12 exams will be held from May 4 to June 15.
