The Odisha government on Wednesday cancelled the Class 10 board examinations conducted by the Board of Secondary Education amid a surge in Covid-19 cases throughout the state.
“In view of the surge in Covid-19 cases, the Class-X examination conducted by BSE, Odisha scheduled to be held from May 3 has been cancelled,” said school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash on Wednesday.
The minister said the results of the Class-X exams will be prepared on the basis of an objective criterion to be developed by the BSE, Odisha.
“Any candidate, who will not be satisfied with marks awarded to him/her on this basis, will be given an opportunity to sit for an examination as and when the conditions are conducive to hold the examination,” he said. Besides, all examinations conducted by the Odisha State Board of Madrasa Education scheduled to be held from May 19, 2021 also stands cancelled. Nearly 6.5 lakh students would have appeared for the Class 10 exam.
The president of the Odisha State Board of Madrasa Education will take appropriate steps for awarding alternate mode of marks to the students.
The Odisha government, however, said it is yet to decide on cancellation of the Class 12 examinations to be conducted by the Council of Higher Secondary Education. The state government also announced promotion of Class IX and XI students to X and XII without exams.
{{/usCountry}}The Odisha government, however, said it is yet to decide on cancellation of the Class 12 examinations to be conducted by the Council of Higher Secondary Education. The state government also announced promotion of Class IX and XI students to X and XII without exams.
{{/usCountry}}The move came a day after hundreds of students from various government-run high schools gathered before chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence demanding cancellation of the examination on the lines of similar steps taken by CBSE and ICSE. On Wednesday morning, several students in Baripada town of Mayurbhanj district too marched down to the district collector’s office demanding cancellation of examinations.
Earlier, the Odisha government had postponed Class 10, 12, undergraduate and post-graduate examinations in the state and shut down schools, colleges and universities in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.