Hosting a live interaction with teachers on Twitter, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Tuesday said that board exams will not be conducted in January or February of the upcoming year.

“No board examinations will be conducted in January or February. A decision on the schedule of examinations will be taken later,” Pokhriyal said.

Answering to a question on the modes of upcoming 2021 board exams, Pokhriyal said, “Many CBSE schools are in rural areas. Hence, online examinations are not possible.”

While talking about the impact of COVID-19 on students, the education minister said that the students who cleared the classes without any examination during the pandemic should not be labelled as COVID-era students.

“We cannot allow COVID-19 impact the students and label them as COVID-era students who cleared the classes without any examination,” Pokhriyal said.

“We have organised JEE, NEET exams this year. It was one of the biggest examination conducted amid COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.

Pokhriyal appreciated the efforts of students and teachers for conducting classes online during this pandemic.

“Many countries across the nation have cancelled their academic year due to COVID-19 but the teachers of our nation continued to work hard and did not let the academic year be wasted,” he added.