Maharashtra Class 10, Class 12 board exams postponed as state reports record high

Maharashtra announced the postponement of the state board exams for classes 10 and 12, the exams for Class 12th will tentatively be held by end of May, while the Class 10th exams will be conducted in June.

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Mumbai: As the second wave of the coronavirus continues to wreck havoc, Maharashtra -- one of the worst-hit states, announced the postponement of the state board exams for classes 10 and 12. The exams for Class 12th will tentaively be held by end of May, while the Class 10th exams will be conducted in June.

Taking to twitter state School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad informed that the situation was being closely monitored and that fresh dates for these exams will be announced accordingly. "Your health is our priority," she added.

Imp Announcement: 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. #PariskhaPeCharcha #HSC #SSC #exams (1/5) pic.twitter.com/cjeRZAT7ux — Varsha Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) April 12, 2021

The series of tweet further informed that 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.

"During the consultations, various alternative assessment options were evaluated keeping the health, well-being and future of our students in mind. Postponing exams seemed to be the most pragmatic solution," she wrote in a tweet. 

Further, she said that the CBSE, ICSE, IB, Cambridge boards will be requested to reconsider their exams schedule. 

Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Sunday recorded its highest single-day rise since the outbreak. As many as 63,294 new coronavirus cases were registered which pushed the caseload to 34,07,245, the health department said.

The death of 349 patients due to the infection took the state's toll to 57,987. A record 2,63,137 tests were conducted across the state during the day, which took the overall test count to 2,21,14,372.

Earlier, on April 3 the Maharashtra government had announced that all students of Classes I to 8 will be promoted without exams.