Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that Board examinations for Class 10 and 12 can be conducted during lockdown. The Home Ministry has also asked states to arrange special buses for the transportation of students to exam centres.

In a tweet, shah said, “Taking into consideration the academic interest of large number of students, it has been decided to grant exemption from the lockdown measures to conduct Board examination for classes 10th and 12th, with few conditions like social distancing, face mask etc, for their safety.”

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Earlier Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla had written to the chief secretaries of all states informing about the guidelines to be followed while conducting the board examinations.

The letter said that the Centre had received requests from state governments and CBSE for conducting board examinations.

However, the exemption to conduct exams will be subject to certain conditions.

As per the MHA order, no examination centre is permitted in containment zones.

Wearing of masks by teachers, staff and students is mandatory. The examination centres must have the provision of thermal screening and sanitizer while following social distancing norms.

The Centre has further directed that the examination schedules should be in a staggered manner.

Also, the Government has asked states to arrange special buses for transportation of students to examination centres.

Earlier on May 8, the government had informed that the pending CBSE Board examinations for Class 10 and 12 will be held between July 1-15.

On May 18, the HRD Ministry released the complete date sheet for class 12 students.

On April 29, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had said that its decision to take board exams for 29 subjects of Class 10 and 12 stands the same as mentioned in circular dated April 1, 2020.

The CBSE had also made it clear that it will conduct the board examination after the lockdown period is over.

The HRD Ministry had also refuted rumours about the cancellation of the board examinations. The ministry said that as soon as the situation becomes normal, the board examinations of Class 10 and 12 will be conducted.

In wake of COVID-19 outbreak, the CBSE had postponed all board examinations for Class 10 and 12 scheduled between March 19 and March 31.