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Exam schedule as per academic calendar, will change if polls held in Feb: UP Board secretary
Every year, more than 50 lakh students appear for UP Board exams which will be conducted at 8,000 centres (schools) across the state this year
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The last three UP assembly polls (2022, 2017 and 2012) began in the first week of February and concluded in the first week of March. In each of these years, the UP Board examinations were either conducted or rescheduled in March to pave the way for elections.
This year, however, the UP Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad announced that the exam would be held between February 5 and 24, 2027. This has sparked speculation about whether Board examinations will be rescheduled if ECI decides to hold polls during its usual time in February.
Meanwhile, a day after the examination schedule was announced, UP Board secretary Bhagwati Singh said on Tuesday: “We prepared our examination schedule according to the academic calendar. Our aim is to keep the session on time for the interest of students’ academic careers.”
“The Election Commission of India is a Constitutional body. If it decides to hold polls in March, nothing will get disturbed. This will be the best scenario as the board will not have to reschedule the examinations. In case the ECI decides to conduct UP polls in February, the board in that case will be left with no options but to prepare a new examination schedule,” Singh added.
For instance, in 2022, UP Board Class 10 and 12 exams began from March 24. The Class 10 exams ended on April 11 whereas the Class 12 exams concluded on April 20. That year, the seven-phase UP assembly polls were held from February 10 to March 7.
Likewise in 2017, UP Board examinations began on March 16. The high school examination ended on April 1 while inter exams concluded on April 21. That year, the assembly elections were held from February 11 to March 8 in 7 phases. The results were announced on March 1.
In 2012, high school and inter exams began on March 16. In fact, the exam was postponed from the original schedule of March 1 due to elections. The 2012 UP assembly polls were held from February 8 to March 3 and the results for the same were announced on March 6.
The UP Board is counted among the largest examination bodies of the world, officials said. Every year, more than 50 lakh students appear for UP Board exams which will be conducted at 8,000 centres (schools) across the state this year with the help of 150,000 to 200,000 teachers and staff deployed for examination duty, said board secretary Bhagwati Singh.
On the other hand, school teachers are also deployed for election duties. During the 2022 assembly polls, around 2.6 lakh secondary school teachers were assigned poll duties, Singh added.
Therefore, holding UP Board exams and polls simultaneously is quite tough. Reason: A large number of schools are made polling centres during elections and teachers are deployed for poll duties.
The 18th Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly had its first sitting on May 23, 2022, and its five-year term is scheduled to end on May 22, 2027.
