Kathmandu, August 23 National Examination Board, which has been mulling over ways to conduct national level examination of Grade XII amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, is unlikely to allow schools to issue students’ mark-sheets on the basis of internal evaluation. Apparently the board came up with the idea after its earlier decision to allow schools to evaluate Grade X students on the basis of internal evaluation drew flak. As many as 9,019 students had acquired the highest GPA, 4.0. Last year only 106 students had acquired 4.0 GPA. The year before, the number of students acquiring 4.0 GPA was 74. Result had drawn criticism since most of the private schools had manipulated the results of their students. However, most government schools had refrained from doing so. The result had drawn criticism from all quarters since most of the private schools had manipulated the results of their students. However, most of the government schools had refrained from doing so. Chandra Mani Paudel, chairman of NEB said many educationalists had condemned the idea, which had resulted in disparity between students of public schools and private schools. The Cabinet had taken the final decision to allow schools to provide marks on the recommendation of NEB. Following criticism in the issue, the NEB has been holding meetings to find ways to conduct examinations of Grade XII. Fate of around 450,000 students of Grade XII hangs in balance after the exams scheduled to be held from April 20 onwards were deferred indefinitely, due to the pandemic. “We have been discussing different ways to conduct the examinations of Grade XII. But, this time, students will have to appear for examination,” Paudel said. He further said many stakeholders have also suggested that the board conduct online examinations. However, the board has not been interested as the majority of students, who will appear the examination, do not have access to uninterrupted internet services. “Moreover, a large amount of money and time will be required to develop a system to allow students to take online examinations from their homes, which is not feasible in the country,” Paudel said. The NEB has also sent recommendations to the Ministry of Education stating that an option in the current circumstances could be allowing districts to hold the examination under the federal government. For this, the government can divide districts into red, yellow or green zones on the basis of COVID-19 cases and hold examinations in three phases, accordingly. A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 24, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.