COVID-19 surge: Odisha suspends Class 10 and 12 board examinations

New Delhi: The Odisha government on Thursday (April 15) suspended Class 10 and 12 board examinations in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases. 

The students of Classes 9 and 11 of the academic year 2020-2021 will be promoted to Class 10 and 12 respectively without any exams.  

“CM Naveen Patnaik orders suspension of all 10th and 12th board exams in the state in view of COVID situation. All students of Class 9 and 11 in academic year 2020-21 will be prompted to the 10th and 12th standards respectively. They do not have to take any tests for this,” ANI quoted Odisha CMO as saying.

After reviewing the grim coronavirus situation in the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made the announcement to postpone the state board exams.

The annual matriculation examination is conducted by Odisha Board of Secondary Education (BSE) and the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) is in charge of the Class 12 examination, both of which have been postponed. 

The exams for Class 10 were scheduled to start from May 3 while Class 12 Boards examinations were slated to begin from May 18.

The government will take a further decision on conducting exams in the first week of June after considering the COVID-19 situation in the state. 

"The students will be given adequate time before the examinations," CM Patnaik was quoted as saying by PTI. 

Meanwhile, physical classes for students of Class 10 and 12 have been stopped from Monday in all schools affiliated to the Odisha State Secondary Education Board and Odisha Adarsha Vidyalay Sangathan.

All English medium schools and their hostels in the state will also be shut from Monday, the CM said in a statement. 

As per Health Ministry data, the COVID-19 caseload in the state jumped to 3,58,342 on Thursday after 2,989 people tested positive, the biggest single-day spike in 2021. With two more fatalities, the death toll reached 1,935, while the active count stands at 14,621. 

(With inputs from agencies)

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