IB to Resort to the Non-Exam Route to Promote Students in India, Cancels Board Exams This Year

Vinod Kakumanu
May 31, 2021, 11:35 a.m.

Keeping in view the resurgence of Covid-19 in India in a second wave, the International Baccalaureate has decided to decided not to conduct the board exams and promote students sans exam this year using other means of assessment like coursework evaluation and grade prediction.

While CBSE is wary of canceling altogether its board exams even as the incidence of new Covid-19 cases continues to remain high, the IB has concluded that conducting examinations this year is not prudent and is resorting to alternative means of assessment.

“The IB has informed schools of our decision not to hold examinations in India due to the rising cases of COVID-19 and following ongoing conversations with our schools, associations, and education boards. We intend that the results of students in India should be awarded using coursework marks and predicted grades for the May 2021 session, as described in the awarding model outlined in February. For more details on the May 2021 session, students, parents, and teachers are encouraged to talk to their school’s IB coordinator,” the board said in an official statement.

The board has made a distinction regarding the means that are to be used for promoting students in different courses. For IBDP the promotion will be sans exams and coursework evaluation, and for MYP the evaluation of the alternative tasks will be done for the promotion of students and awarding certificates.

Another prominent national certificate examination board, the CISCE, has not yet made the final announcement regarding the class 12 examination, however, it has canceled the examination for class 10th.