The government today decided to cancel the CBSE’s Class X board examinations and postpone the Class XII exams following an exponential surge in Covid-19 cases in the country. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi held amidst demands from many quarters, including Opposition political parties, to put off the examinations in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases.

While state boards in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh followed suit to postpone their Class X and XII examinations, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination, which is the other prominent national board for school examinations, said it is reviewing the situation and will take a decision soon in this regard.

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“The board exams for Class 12 to be held from May 4 to June 14 are hereby postponed. These exams will be held hereafter. The situation will be reviewed on June 1 by the board and details will be shared subsequently. A notice of at least 15 days will be given before the start of the examinations,” said a press statement released by the MHRD. “The board exams for Class 10 are hereby cancelled. The results of Class 10 board will be prepared on the basis of an objective criterion to be developed by the board. Any candidate who is not satisfied with the marks allocated to him or her on this basis will be given an opportunity to sit in an exam as and when the conditions are conducive to hold the exams,” the press statement added.

The decision affects around 21.5 lakh students who had registered for the- Class X and XII CBSE exams.

The country is seeing a resurgence of Covid-19 positive cases in many states, with a few states having been affected more than others. In this situation, schools have been shut down in 11 states. “Unlike state boards, CBSE has an all-India character, and therefore, it is essential to hold exams simultaneously throughout the country. Looking to the present situation of the pandemic and school closures, and also taking into account the safety and wellbeing of the students, the crucial decisions have been taken,” a senior Ministry official said.

The demands for cancellation of board exams were being raised from various quarters. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Mr Manish Sisodia had on Tuesday asked the Centre to cancel the exams, saying it can contribute to a large scale spread of the coronavirus.

Last week, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had urged Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal to intervene and direct the CBSE to reconsider its decision to go ahead with the board examinations in May despite the “massive and uncontrolled” rise in Covid- 19 cases. The Shiv Sena had also written to the education ministry, requesting the government to develop a national consensus and reschedule CBSE and other board exams.

Over 2 lakh students had signed an online petition demanding cancellation of board exams and the hashtag “cancelboardexams” has also been trending on Twitter for a week.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan government also decided to postpone the state education board examinations for classes X and XII. The Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education was also directed to promote the students of Classes VIII, IX and X to the next classes.The Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education also postponed the examinations of Classes X and XII scheduled to start from 30 April and 1 May respectively.

Schools across the country were closed in March last year to contain the spread of Covid-19 ahead of a nationwide lockdown. Several states started reopening the schools partially from October last year, but physical classes are again being suspended in view of the rise in coronavirus cases. Last year, the board exams had to be postponed mid-way in March. They were later cancelled and the results were announced on the basis of an alternative assessment scheme.