CBSE Class 12 Date Sheet to be revised to accommodate JEE Main: truth behind the reports

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) released the CBSE Class 12 Board Examination 2017 Date Sheet last week. Soon after the date sheet was released, parents and teachers took to the internet to complain about the date sheet. Parents and teachers complained that JEE Main and CBSE Class 12 Board papers were too close and presented how unhappy they were with the date sheet. Such has been the chorus that reports of CBSE planning to revise the Class 12 Date sheet to accommodate JEE Main examination have surfaced. Whether they are rumours or a fact continues to baffle parents, students and teachers. We reached out to sources in the CBSE and hereby confirm that there is no truth behind the alleged reports. CBSE Class 12 date sheet, is in fact, not going to be revised.

Reason for the rumour was very simple. The JEE Main 2017 examination, one of the largest engineering entrance examinations written by lacs of students falls on April 2, 2017. This is right in the middle of the Class 12 Board Examinations. The Chemistry paper, a qualifying subject for JEE Main and consequently for JEE Advanced 2017 is on March 25, 2017. Another point of concern is the biology paper which falls three days later on April 5, 2017. Understandably, a large section of class 12 students would be appearing in the JEE Main 2017 examination. This examination is crucial for them to qualify for the elite IITs – the premium Indian Institute of Technology as well as the only entrance examination for the NITs. Parents were worried that the close dates would create unnecessary stress on students. Though officials at CBSE understand the concern, it is also a fact that the date sheet is not being revised.
It is important to mention here that CBSE had to delay the commencement of Class 12 Board Examinations to March 9 instead of the usual March 1. This has been done keeping in mind the Assembly Elections in 5 states of Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur. The elections in the state would start from February 8 and end on March 8 when the last phase of elections would conclude in Uttar Pradesh. To accommodate the elections, even ICSE and ICS exam schedules have been revised. Uttar Pradesh Board Examinations have also been re-scheduled. Though this does create a problem of exams being too close for comfort, the dates cannot be shifted further. As it is, in order to accommodate the engineering aspirants, CBSE has pushed the qualifying papers of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics to conclude in March itself.
Parents are again advised not to fall for rumours about the Class 12 Date sheet being revised. The date sheet released by CBSE last week is final and examinations would start as states from March 9, 2017.