Maharashtra has decided to postpone the state board exams for classes 10 and 12 amid the surge in Covid-19 cases, State School Education Minister, Varsha Gaikwad, said on Monday.
“Given the current #COVID-19 situation in Maharashtra, we’ve postponed state board exams for class 10th & 12th. The present circumstances are not conducive for holding exams. Your health is our priority,” Gaikwad captioned a video statement posted on Twitter.
“Keeping in mind the schedule of entrance exams for professional courses, class 12 exams will be held by the end of May, while 10th standard exams will be in June. We're closely monitoring the health situation. Fresh dates for these exams will be announced accordingly,” the State Education Minister said.
The decision is the outcome of consultations with various stakeholders -- students, teachers, parents, elected representatives from across parties, academicians and tech giants in the wake of rising coronavirus cases, the Minister said.
“We'll also be writing to the CBSE, ICSE, IB and Cambridge boards, requesting them to reconsider their exams dates,” Gaikwad further said.
The number of new cases continues to rise with 1,68,912 new cases registered in the last 24 hours, official data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
Ten states account for 83.02 per cent of the new cases, with Maharashtra reporting the highest number of daily new cases at 63,294.
As India’s total Active Caseload reached 12,01,009, the state accounted for 47.22 per cent of the total active caseload in the country. Maharashtra also saw the maximum casualties at 349 in the last 24 hours.
The Maharashtra government on Sunday held an urgent meeting with the State Taskforce for Covid-19 to discuss measures to combat rising cases, including the possibility of a full lockdown for one or two weeks, previous reports said.