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ICSE postpones board exams for Class 10, 12 amid Covid-19 surge

ByAnkita Bhatkhande, Hindustan Times, Mumbai
Apr 17, 2021 05:44 AM IST

Parents welcomed the decision and said it would help students who have already decided their future options escape the uncertainty of exams.

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) on Friday deferred its ICSE (Class 10) and ISC (Class 12) exams, which were earlier scheduled from the first week of May due to growing Covid-19 infections across the country.

After CBSE exams, ICSE and ISC exams too got stalled owing to worsening situation of the pandemic in the country.

In its official release, the board said it will wait until the first week of June to take a review of the situation and decide on the conduct of exams. “ICSE students, however, can currently choose between two options -- to write the exams along with the ISC candidates or to not write the exam. In case they choose the latter, the board will develop a fair and unbiased criterion while preparing the results of such candidates,” said Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary of the board, in the release.

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Parents welcomed the decision and said it would help students who have already decided their future options escape the uncertainty of exams. “Many students wish to take admission in small science colleges run by coaching classes where they are already studying. There are also quite a few who wish to continue in their respective schools. For such students, internal assessments will be the best possible solution. Students who wish to take the exams can still do so,” said a parent from Andheri.

Over 23,000 students from Maharashtra took the ICSE exam in 2020 while 3,150 wrote their ISC exams last year. This year, ICSE exams were earlier scheduled between May 5 and June 7 and ISC exams were to be held between May 5 and June 16.

Meanwhile, parents of students from the Cambridge (IGCSE) board are anxious about the board’s decision regarding exams. While the board is going to clear its stand on the exams by Monday, parents are worried as students are scheduled to appear for their ICT paper on Tuesday. “The board should come up with a decision in this regard immediately. Our children are still studying rigorously because they don’t know if the examination is happening or not. Their peers have been able to relax as their exams have been postponed or cancelled. Nothing is going to change over the weekend and the board should take a quick decision,” said a parent of IGCSE.

Alka Sharma, a parent from Santacruz said, “I do not want my daughter to wait in anxiety until a day before exams. I really hope the board comes up with a decision to cancel the exam soon.”

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