Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh Thursday became the latest states to announce cancellation of class 12 board examinations in view of the COVID-19 pandemic situation while the Assam government said it will take a decision after the CBSE announces modalities for marking the students.
Maharashtra Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Vijay Wadettiwar announced that the class 12, as well as class 10 state board examinations, have been cancelled this year in view of the prevailing pandemic.
The Maharashtra government strongly advocated the “non-examination route” in consultations held by the Ministry of Education to decide on the fate of class 12 board exams which were earlier postponed following the aggressive second wave of COVID-19. The Uttar Pradesh government also cancelled the class 12 board examination.
In a tweet in Hindi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, “In the present circumstances amid the Covid pandemic, health safety of children is our priority. Taking inspiration from Prime Minister, the UP government has decided not to hold class 10 and 12 board examinations.” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said a decision on holding the class 12 exams in the state will be taken after the CBSE announces modalities for marking the students.
Following the Centre’s decision to cancel class 12 CBSE board exams in view of the Covid pandemic, six states Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Goa and Uttarakhand called off their board exams on Wednesday while few others said they will take a call soon.
The Centre on Tuesday decided to cancel the CBSE class 12 board exams amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic across the country with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that the decision has been taken in the interest of students and the anxiety among students, parents and teachers must be put to an end. Soon after, CISCE also announced cancellation of its board exams.
