A look at what different states have decided about board exams

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) however said it will soon decide on conducting Class 10 and 12 board examinations.

Close on the heels of the Centre announcing the cancellation of CBSE class 10 exams and the deferring the class 12 board exams, several states followed suit and took a similar decision in view of the rising Covid-19 infection cases in the country.

This is the first time that the CBSE has completely cancelled the board exams. (File photo)

This is the first time that the CBSE cancelled the board exams. The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), however, said it will soon take a decision on class 10 and 12 board examinations.

Meanwhile, West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee said a decision will be taken giving priority to the health of the students. The exams of the state board are scheduled to begin in June.

Karnataka state primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar said the government has not taken any decision on cancelling the class 10 board exams. The education department in Meghalaya said it is ready to hold the state board exams for class 12 and will take a decision on class 10 exams after a review of the Covid-19 situation.

Here's a list of states that have so far cancelled/postponed their class 10 and class 12 board exams:

· Uttar Pradesh -- The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday postponed the board examinations till May 20 and decided that all schools in the state will remain shut till May 15. The new examination schedule will be decided in the first week of May after reviewing the coronavirus situation.

· Haryana -- State education minister Kanwar Pal informed Haryana cancelled class 10 board exams and deferred the exams for class 12. Matriculation students will be promoted on the basis of internal assessment.

· Gujarat — The Gujarat government has decided to postpone class 10 and 12 board examinations, scheduled to be held between May 10 and 25, and has decided to promote the students of class 1 to 9 and 11 en masse. The new dates will be announced after a review of the coronavirus situation on May 15, the chief minister’s office informed.

· Himachal Pradesh-- The Himachal Pradesh government has postponed the ongoing state board exams for classes 10 and 12 in the wake of the rising Covid-19 cases, state education secretary Rajeev Sharma said. The situation will be reviewed at a government-level meeting on May 1 and directions will be issued accordingly, he said.

· Maharashtra--The Maharashtra government has postponed the state board exams of classes 10 and 12 which were scheduled to be held later this month. The state government would study and discuss the CBSE's move of cancelling its class 10 exam before taking any such decision for the state education board exams, minister Varsha Gaikwad said on Wednesday.

· Madhya Pradesh-- The Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education announced the postponement of the examinations of classes 10 and 12. The exams of the high school, higher secondary and diploma in pre-school education were scheduled to begin from April 30 and May 1. The exams are likely to be conducted from the first week of June and the education board will soon issue an amended schedule, a spokesperson of the state board said.

· Rajasthan-- The Rajasthan government has decided to postpone the state education board examinations for classes 10 and 12 at a meeting of chief minister Ashok Gehlot and education minister Govind Singh Dotasra.

· Chhattisgarh--The Chhattisgarh government had earlier put off class 10 exams which were scheduled to begin from April 15.

· Tamil Nadu--The state government had in February cancelled class 10 board exams.

· Odisha-- Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday ordered suspension of board exams of classes 10 and 12 in the state. All students of classes 9 and 11 in academic year 2020-21 will be promoted to classes 10 and 12 respectively. They do not have to take any tests for this, said Odisha CMO.

· Punjab--The Punjab government said that students of classes 5, 8 and 10 will be promoted to the next standard without examinations. According to a statement, a decision on class 12 exams will be taken later.

·Jammu and Kashmir--The ongoing class 10 exams for remaining subjects have been cancelled and students would be promoted to class 11 based on internal assessments. Ongoing class 12 exams have been postponed, said Office of Lieuteanant General of Jammu and Kashmir.