Maharashtra cancels Class 10 board exams due to rising COVID-19 cases, decision on internal assessment soon

Due to the second wave of in Maharashtra, the state government has decided to cancel the Class 10 board exams.

Taking to social media, Varsha Gaikwad, State Education Minister, announced the development.

She added that the safety of students and teachers is the government's topmost priority.

Given the worsening situation of the #Covid-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government has now decided to CANCEL the state board exams for class 10th. The health & safety of our students and teachers is our topmost priority.#exams #ssc #hsc pic.twitter.com/C8xCY3VVdX

— Varsha Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) April 20, 2021

The tweet reads, "Given the worsening situation of the # pandemic, the Maharashtra government has now decided to CANCEL the state board exams for class 10th. The health & safety of our students and teachers is our topmost priority".

In the video, she said that the government had requested other boards to reschedule Class 10 and Class 12 papers while announcing the postponement of the exams recently.

"In response to our communication, other boards have now cancelled their exams, so maintaining parity, we have cancelled ours too," she said.

The government's decision on internal assessment will be announced soon.

This comes on the same day that health minister Rajesh Tope said that the Maharashtra cabinet favours a "strict lockdown" to curb the pandemic and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is likely to make an announcement in this regard on Wednesday.

"Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray could make an official announcement about more stringent measures tomorrow," Tope said.

"The Class 12 exam will certainly be held, but we have decided to give relief to Class 10 students," Tope added.

Before cancelling the board exams, Maharashtra government consulted with stakeholders regarding alternatives for the assessment of Class 10 (SSC) and Class 12 (HSC) board students.

Due to the rise in cases, the state government had earlier announced that students of classes 1 to 9 and Class 11 would be promoted without examination.

Maharashtra Public Service Commission also postponed the Maharashtra subordinate services non-gazetted group B preliminary combined examination recently.

The examination was scheduled to be conducted on 11 April.

Maharashtra on Tuesday reported the highest daily new cases at 58,924  followed by Uttar Pradesh with 28,211 and Delhi, which reported 23,686 new cases.

Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (351). Delhi follows with 240 daily deaths.