15-year-old Siya Tayal, a youth leader and philanthropist, wrote an open letter to the PM calling for the CBSE board exams to be cancelled. Written just a day before the official announcement, the letter says that board exams have little value in the larger scheme of life.

• New Delhi
• April 22, 2021
• UPDATED: April 22, 2021 19:09 IST

15-year-old Siya Tayal, a youth leader and philanthropist, wrote an open letter to the PM calling for the CBSE board exams to be cancelled.

The CBSE board exams 2021 were cancelled for Class 10 and postponed for Class 12 on April 14. The move came after over 30 lakh students waited on the official announcement regarding the CBSE board exams amidst a staggering rise in Covid-19 cases the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Amidst the students who called for a cancellation of the CBSE board exams was youth leader and philanthropist Siya Tayal who wrote an elaborate letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising the various concerns from students, parents and teachers. She highlighted how staying alive was more important than board exam marks.

Her social media campaign tagging @PMOIndia with the open letter on April 13 was supported by students from all over India and even a few notable personalities.

Siya's letter to the PM was retweeted by Adv Anubha Shrivastava Sahai, President of India Wide Parents Association (IWPA) and a child rights activist.

Having lost her father in 2020 due to a heart attack, Siya reached out to the PM and supporters online with the problems she has gone through in this period.

She wrote that “in the larger scheme of life, board examination has little value. They are a means to an end and not an end itself.”

She also mentioned in her letter to the PM that the Covid-19 vaccines had not been tested for children under 16 and noted that “Multiple number of positive cases have come up even after the 1st and 2nd vaccine dose”.

“I request you sir to cancel board exams across the country in 2021 so that when we students go back to school, none of us are missing,” Siya wrote to the PM.

Letter to PM by Siya Tayal

Check out Siya Tayal’s full letter to the PM regarding the cancellation of the CBSE board exams here:

15-year-old Siya has also spoken at UN, Geneva and she is a youth Ambassador under 1m2030 (a UNITAR and Global Challenges Forum initiative). She has won 'The India Volunteer Award', 'Pramerica Bronze Award', and has been nominated for Kurt Han Prize 2020.

Among the initiatives she has taken are the Bee Nifty, ‘a 100% non-profit initiative’ that provides income and livelihood to women in rural Haryana by making recyclable bags. She is also the youth speaker for the Internet Governance Forum for an event of UNDP.

Mixed reactions on CBSE board exam cancellation

Despite the fact that the decision to cancel and postpone the CBSE 10th and CBSE 12th board exams 2021, experts gave mixed reactions on how the matter can be seen.

While most stakeholders welcomed the board exam cancellation, several said that the postponement of the CBSE Class 12 board exams could create problems in the careers of students as these senior students would be going for college admissions after the CBSE board exam results were announced.

A recent survey on opinions of teachers by Bangalore-based EdTech innovator Teachmint also brought in new concerns to light.

Speaking to us, Siya took the side of life over grades. “Nothing should be more important than saving lives. Without people, an economy cannot exist. Without a healthy youth, a country cannot have a bright future,” she said.

“At the moment, we are faced with two responsibilities: saving lives that are already at risk and controlling the number of lives we put at risk. Both are equally important,” she added.

The CBSE Class 12 board exams 2021 will begin after June 1, and many students across India are calling for it to be cancelled. The CBSE 12th board exams were initially scheduled to be held from May 4 to June 14.

Now, the situation will be reviewed after June 1 and a detailed CBSE Class 12 board exam schedule will be released after that. As per the official announcement, a notice of at least 15 days will be given before the start of the examinations.

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