State board exam for class 10 cancelled amid COVID-19 surge: Varsha Gaikwad

Varsha Gaikwad

In view of the worsening coronavirus conditions in Maharashtra, the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam has been cancelled. The State Health minister Rajesh Tope and School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad made the announcement on Tuesday.

The examination was earlier deferred along with HSC (Higher Secondary Certificate) after constant rise in the number of COVID-19 infections. But a new announcement now has provided a major relief for lakhs of students and their parents across Maharashtra. Last year, only one paper from the SSC examination was cancelled for similar reasons.

"Considering the pandemic conditions in the state, we had earlier postponed the state board examinations. Other non-state boards too were suggested to take appropriate decisions. While other boards have already taken the decision to cancel the Class X exam while Class XII board exam will be held later; the state government too has taken the same decision today in the cabinet meeting. SSC exams are, hence, declared cancelled. Declaration on assessment will made soon. Also, a chance could be given to students to improve their score later with an offline exam. The details will be declared soon. The idea was to bring parity in assessment for students from across all boards," said Gaikwad, through a video message shared for all.

The SSC and HSC exams which were earlier scheduled to be held in April and May were deferred to Late May and June, considering the steep rise in the cases of COVID-19 infections. The state education minister Gaikwad on April 12 had declared the postponement adding that all other boards too should consider the same. However, soon after CBSE, ICSE, Cambridge and IB declared cancellation of Class X board exam and so all eyes were now set on the state education department's decision regarding SSC. Already there has been major opposition by students appearing for the exam and their parents to go ahead with regular exams.