By IANS
New Delhi : The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Monday said that it may not consider rescheduling the board examination timings in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from next year, as had been requested by a school in Dubai.
“The examinations are going on and nothing can be changed this year. It sounds very difficult to change the timing of the examination,” CBSE spokesperson Rama Sharma told IANS.
A Dubai-based Indian school told reporters there that it had requested the CBSE to reschedule the time the Class 10 and Class 12 board exams begin – from 9 a.m. now to 10 a.m. next year.
The Millennium School in Dubai claimed it had written to the board after some of their students nearly missed a Class 12 examination due to traffic snarls.
“We have not received any communication from any school in the Gulf. But reconsidering the examination timing would be little difficult as a lot of logistic issues are associated with it,” Sharma said.
The CBSE’s Controller of Examinations M.C. Sharma has no idea of any trouble in any Dubai school over exam timings, she said.
“It has been taking place at the same time for so many years. We may not change the timing in UAE,” Rama Sharma said.
Another CBSE official added: “”Any change in the timing of examinations will have to be evaluated properly. The board may consider the timing of examination in all the Gulf countries, not just in UAE.”
He, however, said that any discussion about a change in timing would be taken up only after the current exams were over.
Over 17,370 students from several Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain, are sitting for their Class 12 and Class 10 CBSE board examinations this year.
This year, 10,384 students from 103 schools in the Gulf are writing the Class 10 board examinations that began March 1. Last year 9,869 students had appeared for the exams.
Similarly, 6,995 candidates from 59 schools are sitting for the Class 12 board examinations. Last year there were 6,203 candidates from 55 schools in Gulf countries.
Both in India and abroad, a total of over 1.3 million students of Classes 10 and 12 are sitting for their CBSE examinations this year.