Maharashtra board HSC & SSC exams 2022: Maharashtra board exams for Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC-class 12) and Secondary School Certificate (SSC-class 10) will be conducted in the offline format between March and April 2022. The announcement was made by state school education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Thursday evening.
As per a statement released by the department, HSC oral exams will take place between February 14 and March 3, while written papers will be conducted from March 4 to April 7, 2022. Similarly, SSC oral exams will be conducted from February 24 to March 14, and written exams will take place between March 15 and April 18, 2022.
"There have been many queries regarding examination dates and the mode in which board exams will be conducted for the current academic year, so we are clarifying that the exams will be conducted in offline mode only," said Varsha Gaikwad. Unlike every year, the board exam schedule has been delayed by two weeks this time round to give schools more time to complete the curriculum, said a senior official from the school education department.
Taking into account the lakhs of students who will be appearing for board exams in the state, the education department has also decided to increase the number of exam centres.
{{/usCountry}}Taking into account the lakhs of students who will be appearing for board exams in the state, the education department has also decided to increase the number of exam centres.
{{/usCountry}}"As per rules, whatever number of students were allowed per class during our exams will be halved in 2022 in order to ensure social distancing during exams. If normally 25 students were allowed to sit in a class, this time only 12-13 students will be allowed in the same class instead," said the official.
In 2021, class 10 and 12 board exams across several school education boards had to be scrapped due to rising Covid-19 cases. Results for the class 10 batch was instead based on students' performance in classes 9 and 10 combined whereas the class 12 students were assessed based on their performance in classes 10, 11 and 12.
In July this year, Gaikwad had announced 25% reduction in HSC and SSC syllabus for the current academic year in order to reduce the academic burden for students. Despite this, several schools feel they won't have enough time to complete the syllabus in time for exams.
"We are not allowed to conduct online classes for more than 3-3.5 hours a day and in that same time the government is expecting us to complete the vast syllabus which is becoming impossible. Schools and junior colleges will have to complete the portion latest by February so that we give students time to prepare for exams. The government should have postponed the exams further," said the principal of a suburban school on condition of anonymity.