ICSE cancels Class 10 board exams, asks schools to begin admissions for Class 11

All schools affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) have been advised to begin admissions for class 11 and a schedule for online classes in accordance with the ISC 2023 syllabus is to be prepared.

The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) cancelled its Class 10 board examinations on Tuesday, in the wake of a massive Covid-19 surge across the country. All schools affiliated with the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) have been advised to begin admissions for class 11 and a schedule for online classes in accordance with the ISC 2023 syllabus is to be prepared, the council informed in a circular issued on this day. The status of exams for class 12 remains the same as detailed in a previous order, i.e. the class 12 exam will be conducted offline at a later date, it said.

The status of exams for class 12 remains the same as detailed in a previous order, i.e. the class 12 exam will be conducted offline at a later date. (File Photo / Representational Image)

The circular issued by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) on Tuesday notified that the decision to cancel the Class 10 board examinations was taken keeping the safety and wellbeing of students in mind. (CISCE)

This year, the ICSE (Class 10) exams were earlier scheduled to be held between May 5 and June 7, while the ISC (Class 12) exams were to be held between May 5 and June 16. The board exams were postponed three days ago due to the growing Covid-19 infections across India, with the board saying that it will wait until the first week of June to take a review of the situation and decide on the conduct of exams. However, CISCE on Tuesday withdrew its 16th April order and cancelled the Class 10 board examinations altogether. The decision was taken keeping the safety and wellbeing of the students and teaching faculty in mind, the council stated.

"All CISCE affiliated schools (having the ISC Section) are hereby advised to begin the admission process for Class XI, if not already started," the CISCE circular, signed by the council's chief executive and secretary Gerry Arathoon, stated. "In addition, schools should prepare a schedule to begin online classes for the Class XI students at the earliest. The syllabus to be followed is the ISC 2023 syllabus," the circular added.

The status of the ISC (Class XII) 2021 examination remains the same, as per the circular dated 16th April, the board informed. Regarding result declaration, the CISCE said that it committed to devising "a fair and an unbiased criterion", based on which the results for the ICSE (Class X) examinations will be declared and the date of result declaration will be announced later, the council said in the letter sent to the heads of all schools presenting candidates for the ICSE and the ISC 2021 examinations.