The Class 10 Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board examinations have been cancelled, Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad announced on Tuesday. The decision was taken bearing in mind the safety of students in the light of the Covid-19 surge in the state.
On Tuesday, Gaikwad said, “Given the worsening Covid-19 situation, the Maharashtra government has decided to cancel the state board exams for Class 10. The health and safety of students and teachers is our topmost priority.”
Gaikwad said, “We are discussing the method of internal assessment to clear the students of SSC board exams. We have been discussing alternative methods with other private and international boards. The criterion on the basis of which results will be declared for Class 10 will be announced soon. The state school education department is committed to devising a fair and accurate assessment criterion.”
The minister clarified that Class 12 Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) board exams were not cancelled. Gaikwad said, “As far as the state board exams of Class 12 (HSC) are concerned, we have already conveyed our decision to postpone the exams till May-end. The status remains the same. We are closely monitoring the health and safety situation in the state.
“As the current atmosphere is not conducive to exams, we had earlier postponed our exams while requesting other boards to reschedule theirs. In response to our communication, other boards have now cancelled their exams; so, maintaining parity, we have cancelled ours too,” Gaikwad further added.
Every year, 3.30 lakh of the 15 lakh students appearing for the SSC board examinations in Maharashtra do so from Mumbai. The exams are conducted by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) at more than 4,979 exam centres across Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Latur, Nashik, Konkan, Kolhapur and Amravati districts.
Initially, SSC board exams were scheduled to be held offline, from April 29 to May 20, 2021, offline. But on April 12, Gaikwad announced that the exams had been postponed and would be conducted in June due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra.
