ICSE board postpones Class 10, 12 exams till March 31 due to coronavirus threat

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NEW DELHI: The ICSE Board on Thursday (March 19, 2020) postponed Class 10 and 12 examinations due to the novel coronavirus threat. The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) Chief Executive Gerry Arathoon was quoted by PTI as saying that the exams have been postponed till March 31.

On Wednesday, Arathoon had said the exams will be conducted as per the schedule after the CBSE announced it has postponed exams till March 31.

This came after the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on Wednesday directed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and all educational institutions in the country to postpone all exams including JEE Mains till March 31 in view of coronavirus outbreak.

"While the maintenance of academic calendar and exam schedule is important, equally important is safety and security of students, who are appearing in various examinations as also of their teachers and parents," HRD Secretary Amit Khare said in official communication.

"All ongoing examinations may be rescheduled after March 31. This would include CBSE, NIOS as also university exams. All evaluation work may be rescheduled after March 31," he said.

Stressing on JEE Main, the HRD Secretary said,. "Since JEE Main may require travel by examinees to different towns and the dates may clash with rescheduled CBSE and other Board exams, therefore, JEE Main should be rescheduled and the new date of JEE Main will be announced on March 31 after re-assessment of situation."

The HRD Ministry had requested all teachers and educational institutes to maintain regular communication with students and resolve their queries.

It has also appealed to parents, students, and teachers not to panic. A total of 169 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in India so far, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday. Three people have so far died of the infection in the country.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. The virus had first emerged in China`s Wuhan city in December last year.