To the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Ministry of Education India,

We, the students and parents of CBSE-affiliated schools across the GCC (Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE), are writing with heavy hearts and a sense of profound injustice. respectfully request the immediate revocation of the circular dated March 15, 2026, which cancelled the Class 12 Board Examinations.

While we acknowledge the Board’s concern for student safety amid current regional tensions, a blanket cancellation significantly jeopardizes our academic and professional futures. Class 12 marks are the cornerstone for university admissions and scholarship eligibility both in India and globally.

Our Core Concerns:

1. Academic Disparity: Internal pre-board assessments are fundamentally designed as diagnostic tools to identify student weaknesses, rather than as a final measure of merit. Furthermore, during these internal evaluation periods, students were burdened with the simultaneous pressure of board practicals, mock laboratory sessions, and intensive project submissions. Consequently, these preliminary scores do not accurately represent a student’s true academic potential or final preparation level. Relying on these metrics for university admissions would unfairly penalize students who had strategically optimized their peak performance for the final Board window.
2. Merit Disparity & Admissions Risk: Without a standardized exam, GCC students will be unfairly compared to their peers in India who are appearing for the physical 2026 boards, leading to potential disadvantages in highly competitive merit lists, which will, in turn adversely affect their future both academically and professionally.
3. Preparation Effort & Emotional Toll: Thousands of students have invested months of rigorous and focused preparation for these high-stakes exams. This cancellation would be a grave injustice to those who aimed to achieve their highest possible scores in the Grade 12 Boards.  If this decision is not revoked, it will result in the permanent shattering of dreams built on years of dedication and hard work.

Our Proposed Solutions:

We urge the CBSE to implement one of the following alternatives to cancellation:

1. Remote AI-Proctored Examinations: Conduct the remaining papers via a secure, online proctored platform to ensure both student safety and academic integrity.
2. Deferred Physical Examinations: Reschedule exams for a later date when the security situation has stabilized, rather than a permanent cancellation.
3. Guaranteed Improvement Exams: Ensure that any "calculated" result is accompanied by a guaranteed window for students to sit a physical improvement exam at a later date, as per previous legal precedents and  with a 'Higher of the Two Marks' protection. No student should be forced to settle for a calculated grade that undermines years of hard work. We want the right to earn our marks in an exam hall.
4. Transparent Normalization Formula: Any "Objective Criterion" used must account for the fact that school internal marks are intentionally deflated and do not capture the peak performance reached in the final weeks of board preparation.

We ask the Board to prioritize our future and provide a solution that maintains the standard and value of the CBSE Class 12 certification.

Signed,
The Students, Parents, and Educators of the GCC CBSE Community.