patna students of class x and xii are worried for their board and practical examinations which would be held in 2021 the central board of secondary education cbse and the council for the indian school certificate examinations cisce are yet to declare the exam schedules while the bihar school examination board bseb will take the exams in februaryin view of the covid19 pandemic the schools have been shut since march however partial classes were conducted for students of classes ix to xii under the unlock 50in this academic session students have experienced lots of turbulence and the uncertainty on reopening of schools increased their anxiety level they are expecting their board exams in march or aprilsiddhi priya a class xii student of notre dame academy said the extended lockdown has shaken her confidence level for the upcoming board exam the confidence level of students has gone down because we used to take several exams during regular classes and know our exact position in the class but in online classes and exams we face several technical glitches she saidwhen asked how shes preparing for the board and competitive exams priya said she solved previous years questions and sample papersa class xii student of litera valley school ashutosh sharan said practicals are very important for science stream students to understand the concept by attending the classes we were confident about the exams besides there are also uncertainty about the exams whether it is to be preponed or postponed every day we come across different kinds of news about the board exams however the cbse is not giving any clarity about the exam dates im devoting more time to selfstudy and getting help from my schoolteachers but the confidence level is low he saidalthough the board has reduced the syllabus by 30 we are still facing lots of problems in understanding the topics because the board has only removed the easy topics this year is going to be very difficult for the students appearing in board exams said ritu raj a class x student of dav public schoolsharing the similar worries class xii student alina s joe of st michaels high school said we are not able to get the proper guidance from the teachers due to closure of schools amid the pandemic if indirect questions are asked in the board exams then there are chances of getting confused most of our time is consumed in online classes because of poor network connections and other issuesthe teachers are equally worried about the board exams and practicals kalpana sinha a senior teacher at notre dame academy said the school is planning to conduct the practical classes for students in small batches of 1015 by following the covid safety protocols in decemberfor class xii students practical classes are important to understand the theory part above 80 parents have given consent to sending their kids to school for the practicals because we are anticipating that the practicals would be held in january and february however