In a major development, an interaction between Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and teachers about conducting the board exams next year has been postponed from Thursday to December 22. "Teachers, I am looking forward to having an insightful interaction with you all on Dec 22 at 4 PM," Nishank confirmed in a tweet on Thursday.

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The minister had on December 10 interacted with students and answered questions about various concerns regarding the conduct of upcoming board exams. No final decision has been taken yet on the dates for board exams.

Nishank had said during the interaction that consultations with stakeholders are in progress for deciding the dates for board examinations for classes 10 and 12 and they will be announced soon based on the feedback from the stakeholders.

"The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is yet to take a decision on the dates for conducting board examinations including practical. In case students are not able to do practical in classes before the examinations, alternatives to practical examinations will be explored," he had said.

The CBSE had earlier this month announced that board exams in 2021 will be conducted in written mode and not online.

Schools across the country were closed in March to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. They were partially reopened in some states from October 15. However, a few states have decided to keep them closed in view of a spike in the number of infections. Board exams had to be postponed mid-way in March. They were later cancelled, and results announced on the basis of an alternative assessment scheme.

Competitive exams like JEE and NEET were also postponed twice this year due to the pandemic.

There have been demands for postponement of board exams to May in view of the continued closure of schools and teaching-learning activities being conducted entirely online.

The education ministry had on Wednesday announced that JEE-Mains will be conducted four times a year to allow students to improve their scores. The first edition of the JEE-Mains will be held from February 23 to 26, followed by rounds in March, April and May, it had said.