After the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) cancelled the examination for Class 10 amid surging cases of Covid in the country, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Certificate (MSBSHSE) has clarified that Class 10 exams are not likely to be cancelled in the state.
Officials at the state board said that unlike CBSE, it is not possible for MSBSHSE to cancel Class 10 exams.
Dinkar Patil, chairman of MSBSHSE said that as of now the exams are postponed but they will be conducted for sure at a later date.
“Students of Maharashtra are at remote places and the number of students appearing for Class 10 exams is huge. In that case, it is unlikely to cancel the examination. Due to the increase of Covid cases right now, the final board exams are postponed. However, they are very unlikely to be cancelled,” said Patil.
Last week, the Cambridge international board also decided to cancel the Class 10 and Class 12 exams and instead promote students on the basis of school assessment.
Along with the CBSE, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) also said that Class 10 students have a choice and can opt to not appear for offline exams. For students who choose not to appear for the offline examination, a fair and unbiased criterion will be devised for evaluation, said the board in an official statement.
{{/usCountry}}Along with the CBSE, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) also said that Class 10 students have a choice and can opt to not appear for offline exams. For students who choose not to appear for the offline examination, a fair and unbiased criterion will be devised for evaluation, said the board in an official statement.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking about the Class 10 examination by the state board in Maharashtra, Avinash Takawale, principal, Poona Night High School and Junior College said that as major boards across the country are cancelling Class 10 exams, and Maharashtra should do it as well.
“Firstly, it will be a very unfair decision for Class 10 state board students to appear for the exam when CBSE board students are not. The criterion for admission in Class 11 is merit. Students may not perform very well as in the last one year they don’t have the habit of writing for three hours. There are other reasons as well. For example, students in rural parts of Maharashtra have faced many challenges in online education. It will be unfair to them as well,” said Takawale.
He further added that because of the postponed exams of Class 10, the results will be late and so will be the admission process for Class 11.
“This time as well, students of Class 11 are struggling as they have got less time to finish their academic year due to late admissions. The situation will be more or less the same this time for Class 10 pass outs,” said Takawale.
He added that the uncertainty around Covid is giving a lot of stress to students.