Following the postponement of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) board examinations by the state government on Monday, authorities of the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge boards are now concerned about conducting Classes 10 and 12 exams via offline mode amid rising Covid-19 cases.
Private boards have previously cleared stating they will conduct exams offline with Covid-19 safety protocols. But now, students and the state school education department have appealed to private boards to reconsider their decision. On Monday, Varsha Gaikwad, state school education minister said, "We will be writing to the CBSE, ICSE, IB and Cambridge boards, requesting them to reconsider their exams dates."
Authorities of private boards said they have initiated measures such as increasing the number of exam centres by 40 to 50 per cent, informing all exam staff to get the Covid-19 vaccination and conducting sanitisation of classrooms in advance. A senior official of the CISCE said, "We have initiated precautionary measures for the safety of students and staff. We will wait for the communication from the Maharashtra state government."
While, students across different states have raised concerns regarding offline conduct of CBSE board Classes 10 and 12 exams. Hemant Shahane, a student leader said, "Instead of every state taking a different decision, the Union Ministry of Education should take a final decision regarding CBSE Classes 10 and 12 exams. The pandemic situation is crucial across major states so the exams should be conducted online, via internal assessments or any other method which reduces risks of spread of Covid-19 infection." The Class 10 Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) theory board examinations are scheduled to be conducted offline from May 4 to June 7 and the Class 12 Indian School Certificate (ISC) board exams from May 4 to June 18, 2021. The CBSE Class 12 theory examinations are scheduled to be conducted from May 4 to June 14 and the Class 10 exam will be conducted from May 4 to June 7, 2021.
