Coronavirus: State Boards start postponing Class 10 and Class 12 exams

NEW DELHI: After the only national public school examination board, the Central Board of Secondary Education, or CBSE, announced on Wednesday night that it was postponing all board exams that were to be held between March 19 and March 31, 2020, state boards have started announcing postponements too.

The Board of School Education Haryana, at Bhiwani, announced on Thursday morning that it, too, is postponing Class 10 and Class 12 exams till after March 31. Later in the day, the Punjab School Education Board similarly postponed all boards exams, both practicals and theory, for Classes 5, 8, 10 and 12 till after March 31. Similarly, Rajasthan's Board of Secondary Education, also known as the Rajasthan Madhyamik Shiksha Board, and Madhya Pradesh's Madhyamik Shiksha Mandal postponed their Class 10 and Class 12 exams.

This is being done to control the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The number of confirmed cases of infections in India crossed 170 on March 19 and the number of deaths rose to four.

Uttar Pradesh had already postponed the Sanskrit Board exams in the state earlier this week.

Postponed exams

A notice issued by the assistant secretary of Haryana Board on March 19, says: "As a precautionary measure to counter spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and in the best interest of health and safety of children, The Board of School Education Haryana, Bhiwani, has decided that all the remaining board exam which were scheduled from 19.3.2020 to 31.3.2020 are postponed and the same shall be rescheduled and informed accordingly."

Kuldeep Singh Daurka, general secretary of the Government Teachers' Union, Punjab, told Careers360 that the theory papers for Class 8 were already over. "Just a few practicals were left for Class 8 but exams for Class 5, Class 10 and Class 12 were on," he said. "The board notice says that the new dates will be declared later."

Rajasthan's Board of Secondary Education, based in Ajmer, will also announce new exam dates later.

The Madhya Pradesh's Madhyamik Shiksha Mandal, headquartered at Bhopal, has stopped all exams as well as evaluation.

Centre’s orders

The postponement of board exams and even large-scale competitive exams such as the Joint Entrance Examination, or JEE Main, was prompted by directions issued by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, or MHRD, on Wednesday, March 18. The MHRD directed boards, higher education regulatory authorities and exam conducting bodies to postpone exams.

First, the CBSE announced it was postponing exams and the National Institute of Open Schooling, or NIOS, quickly followed. They were followed by the National Testing Agency postponing the JEE Main and the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination postponing the ICSE and ISC exams for Classes 10 and 12.

The number of active cases of coronavirus infections in India right now is 148, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Note: This copy may be updated as fresh announcements come in from the states.

Also read:

• Coronavirus: CBSE, JEE Main postponed, new dates in April
• Coronavirus: ICSE and ISC exams for Classes 10 and 12 postponed

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