Days after Bombay High Court slammed the Maharashtra government for cancelling the Class 10 board exam, education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Sunday stated that the government will tell the high court about the threat to the children in the third COVID-19 wave.
Gaikwad was speaking to media after the high-level meeting of the education ministers with union education minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal and others.
She also informed that the Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will chair a meeting in the next two days to make the decision about the Class 10 and Class 12 exams.
As India battles the second wave of the pandemic, many states across the country have decided to cancel and postpone the board examinations for classes 10 and 12. However, there is no confirmation on the dates of the Class 12 exam yet. Even, Maharashtra government has cancelled the Class 10 exam.
However, the vacation bench of the Bombay High Court of Justices Shahrukh Kathawalla Surendra Tawade on Thursday came down heavily on the Maharashtra government for deciding to promote class 10 students. The bench said the state should not make a mockery of the entire education system and destroy the careers of students in the name of a pandemic.
The bench later granted time to the state to file a fresh affidavit.
Today, a high-level meeting was held with all the States/UT education ministers, education secretaries and chairpersons of state examination boards and stakeholders to discuss the proposals for the conduct of examinations for Class 12 and entrance examinations for professional courses.
The CBSE had on April 14 announced the cancellation of Class 10 exams and postponed Class 12 exams in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The exams, which are usually conducted in February-March every year, were scheduled to be held from May 4.
The CBSE had announced that a decision on the Class 12 board exams will be taken on or after June 1.
(With inputs from agencies)
