Last SSC paper cancelled; Maharashtra education department won’t hold Class 9, 11 exams too

The exams for the vocational subjects, which are offered to students with special needs, and are conducted two-three days after the main exams, have also been cancelled

In a major relief to around 17 lakh students in the the state, the education department on Sunday has decided to cancel the last paper [Geography] of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam after the Maharashtra government decided to extend the lockdown till April 30.

Students during the first SSC exam on March 3, 2020, in Pune. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The exams for the vocational subjects, which are offered to students with special needs, and are conducted two-three days after the main exams, have also been cancelled.

State education minister Varsha Gaikwad also announced the cancellation of exams for Class 9 and Class 11 which are conducted by the schools and junior colleges respectively. Students will be promoted on the basis of the previous exams. The Mumbai Junior College Teachers’ Association had called for the cancellation of Class 11 exams earlier and had suggested that students be promoted directly to Class 12.

The Class 10 Geography paper, which was to take place on March 23, was rescheduled in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The department had decided to announce the new date on April 14, after the lockdown ended. However, on Saturday it was extended till April 30. “The department had earlier decided to come up with a revised date for the exam after April 14 when the lockdown was supposed to get over. However, with the extension of the lockdown and owing to the current situation, it has been decided to cancel these exams,” Gaikwad said.

Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education officials said a marking formula for students in this situation will be devised soon. “This is an unprecedented situation and the board doesn’t have a rule in place for a situation in which a paper has been cancelled altogether, as it has never happened in the past. Officials at the board would think of all the possible solutions and a come up with a fair marking scheme in the coming days so that no student is at loss,” said Shakuntala Kale, chairperson of the board.

Vasant Kalpande, former chairperson of the board, said, “It’s good that the department has made the decision, as it would bring relief to lakhs of students and parents. The board can work on the specifics now and parents need not worry as a marking criteria would be arrived at soon.”

Many teachers had earlier urged the state to mark Class 10 students on the basis of the five papers that have been held, as the board already practices the best-of-five formula to add up the final scores.