Odisha govt cancels Class X state board exam

Bhubaneswar, April 21

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A day after students staged an agitation in front of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence here, the Odisha government Wednesday announced cancellation of the annual Class X board exam given the prevailing COVID-19 situation.

Though the state government had earlier put on hold the Class X board examination, also called matriculation examination conducted by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha, the students had staged a dharna seeking cancellation of the class 10 board examination.

“In view of the surge in COVID-19 cases, the Class X examination conducted by BSE, Odisha scheduled to be held from May 3, 2021, has been cancelled,” announced School and Mass Education Minister S R Dash.

The results will be published based on an objective criterion to be developed by the BSE, Odisha, the minister said.

“Any candidate, who will not be satisfied with the marks awarded to him/her on this basis, will be given a chance to appear for an examination only after an improvement in the COVID-19 pandemic situation,” the minister said.

All examinations conducted by the Odisha State Board of Madrasa Education, which was scheduled to be held from May 18, 2021, are also cancelled, he said.

The protests by the students on Tuesday came after the CBSE and CISCE had announced cancellation of the class 10 board examinations across the country.

Earlier, the state government had postponed classes X, XII, undergraduate and postgraduate examinations because of the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.

A notification issued by the School and Mass Education department, said,”The Class-12 Examination conducted by Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), Odisha which was scheduled to be held from 18.05.2021 is hereby postponed.

“The examination will be held once the COVID-19 situation improves. The situation will be reviewed in the first week of June 2021 by the government and the Council of HIgher Secondary Education (CHSE) for the conduct of examination and at least a time of 15 days will be given before the start of the examination. It said, schools and hostels will remain closed from April 19. However, online classes may be conducted wherever feasible, the notification said. PTI