Amid rise in Covid-19 cases, Maharashtra postpones state board exams

While HSC exams will take place at the end of May now, SSC exams will be conducted in June 2021, said state education minister Varsha Gaikwad. Earlier, the exams were scheduled for April and May for HSC and SSC respectively

Published on: Apr 12, 2021, 15:44:38 IST

By Ankita Bhatkhande

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The Maharashtra government on Monday decided to postpone the SSC (Class 10) and HSC (Class 12) exams due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the state.

While HSC exams will take place at the end of May now, SSC exams will be conducted in June 2021, said state education minister Varsha Gaikwad. Earlier, the exams were scheduled for April and May for HSC and SSC respectively. A revised timetable of the exams is yet to be released by the department and will be out in the coming days.

“Keeping in mind the safety of students, we have decided to postpone the exams to May and June. While postponing exams, we also want to make sure that the future education plans of students is not affected,” said Gaikwad in a video message released on Monday afternoon. The decision was finalised in a meeting held among state education minister Varsha Gaikwad, CM Uddhav Thackeray and officials of the state government and education department on Monday.

Also Read | Maharashtra reports over 63,000 Covid cases in biggest single-day surge

The state government will now write to heads of all-India boards, such as CBSE and ICSE, requesting a similar postponement in the exams for students in the state. “We will approach them now that the government has taken a decision in this regard,” said an official from the state education department.

While the HSC exams were earlier scheduled to take place between April 23 and May 21, 2021, SSC exams were planned between April 29 and May 20. Nearly 3.3 million students appear for Class 10 and 12 exams from the state board every year.

Teachers said that the decision is a welcome step to ensure the safety and well being of students and staff. “We are happy with the postponement. We hope that this will ease the stress of both teachers and parents,” said a suburban principal.

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