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Centre cancels CBSE class 12 exams, CICSE announcement follows
The decision has been taken in the interest of students, Prime Minister's Office (PMO) quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as saying. The decision to cancel class 12 exams was taken at a review meeting chaired by PM Modi on Tuesday evening.
The central government on Tuesday decided to cancel the Class 12 board exams of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in view of the ongoing Covid-19 situation in the country. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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"Class 12 results will be made as per a well-defined objective criteria in a time-bound manner," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a release. It also quoted PM Modi as saying that the decision has been taken "in the interest of students".
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Health and safety of our students is of utmost importance and there would be no compromise on this aspect, Prime Minister Modi further said.
Just hours later, the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) announced cancellation of its class 12 exams as well. "Indian School Certificate (ISC) Board examinations for class 12 have been cancelled. The final decision on compiling results is yet to be taken," Dr G Immanuel, CISCE chairman, told news agency ANI.
On April 14, CBSE issued a notification cancelling class 10 exams, while postponing class 12 exams as the second Covid-19 wave caused devastation across the country. On April 16 and 19, the CISCE, too, issued similar notifications.
Also last month, Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal "Nishank" chaired a meeting with state education ministers and other stakeholders to decide upon the fate of class 12 exams. After the meeting, which is reported to have ended "inconclusively" Pokhriyal said that an "informed" and "collaborative" decision would be taken by June 1. On Tuesday, Pokhriyal was admitted to the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) with post-Covid complications.
Also Read | Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal admitted to AIIMS due to post-Covid complications
On Monday, the Centre informed the Supreme Court that a decision on cancellation of class 12 exams would be taken "in the next two days." The top court, which deferred the hearing to Thursday, took up a plea seeking cancelling of the exams due to the current Covid-19 situation in the country.
