Andhra Pradesh govt gives in, postpones Class 12 Board exams amid COVID scare

New Delhi: Days after Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy asserted that Class 12 Board exams will be conducted as per schedule, the Andhra Pradesh government went back on its statement and postponed the exams till further notice.

The exams were slated to begin on May 5 and admit cards of students were also released, but three days ahead of the exams, the government said they “have taken into consideration the concerns of children and their parents in the wake of increasing Corona cases in the state as well as the country”. Over 10 lakh students were expected to appear for the intermediate exams this year.

The decision was announced by state education minister Adimulapu Suresh. It comes after the high court asked the government to reconsider its stand on conducting the exams.

“In the wake of the COVID pandemic, the central government has formulated all the lockdown conditions. But no uniform policy was announced for exams of classes 10, 11, and 12. So some states have already conducted and some other states have been conducting the exams. And some states have canceled exams and issuing pass certificates,” Andhra government said in a statement, according to ANI.

"In the states where exams are not canceled, those students who studied well will get certificates with good marks and grades. Such students will get seats in good colleges. The entrance exams after Intermediate ask for a percentage of marks in Intermediate. Keeping the career options of students in mind, the state government wanted to conduct the exams. Practical exams for Intermediate are already complete, and only theory exams are pending, which can be completed in six days each. And each exam is for three hours only," it added.

The state government further said that it has made arrangements for conducting exams in a safer environment.

However, as a people-friendly government, "we have taken into consideration the concerns of children and their parents in the wake of increasing Corona cases in the state as well as the country".