Maharashtra Board exams postponed amid rising COVID-19 cases

In major relief for lakhs of students appearing for the Maharashtra State Board Examinations and their parents the Secondary School Certificate SSC and Higher Secondary Certificate HSC examinations have been postponed amid the rising COVID19 cases HSC and SSC exams will now be held in May and June respectively State Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad declared the decision on Monday afternoon in a video messageThe State Education Department has also informed nonstate board regulatory bodies regarding their decision and appealed to them to review their plans A new timetable for the state board exams will be out soonldquoConsidering the COVID situation in Maharashtra the SSC Std X and HSC Std XII exams have been postponed Childrenrsquos health is first priority for us and current conditions are not conducive to holding examsrdquo said Gaikwad as she put an end to the confusion over the examinationsrsquoWhile there has been major opposition to the board exams right from the start the rising number of cases only intensified the protests Earlier the exams were scheduled to begin at the end of April Students their parents schools and teachers had demanded the postponement of examsAll eyes are now on the decision of nonstate board bodies The Central Board of Secondary Examination CBSE exams and the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education ICSE exams are scheduled from May 4 to June 10 and May 5 to June 7 respectivelylsquoStakeholders consultedrsquoldquoKeeping in mind the schedule of entrance exams as well as higher education admissions HSC exams will begin by end of May whereas SSC will begin in June The department is closely monitoring the conditions and fresh dates will be announced soonrdquo said Gaikwad adding that the decision was taken after a discussion with all stakeholders and with Chief Minister Uddhav ThackerayOther than students parents and teachers discussions were held with elected representatives from different parties to know ground realities The education department also consulted techgiants such as Google and TCS reportedly to consider other ways of assessments for board exams ldquoBut those alternatives cannot materialise as yet It will take at least a year or so to prepare such a plan But the department is in talks with service providers to keep alternative options ready for the futurerdquo shared a source from the education departmentConfusion persistsldquoThis decision was required but I am not sure if it is really relief or more time to stress over examsrdquo said a student adding that they have been preparing for the exam for over a year now Another student said ldquoNow the exam is postponed by a month but there is still no clarity on what the situation will be then Does this mean that it will be further postponed The uncertainty continuesrdquoWelcoming the decision Shivnath Darade from Shikshak Parishad Mumbai said ldquoWe had conducted a survey just a few days ago where 69 per cent of the respondents insisted on the postponement of board exams The respondents included students teachers and parents and all were pointing at the current COVID conditions in the state and the danger the exams would poserdquo Another teacher said ldquoThese are important exams and cannot be cancelled completely as studentsrsquo future decisions depend on them But currently the situation is not favourable For the new dates too a review should be taken before exams are finally heldrdquoWhile the decision was majorly wellreceived there are several voices pressing for the cancellation of examination or using alternative methods of assessment that can be held remotely such as internal assessments by teachers Anubha Shrivastava from India Wide Parentsrsquo Association said ldquoThe situation is unpredictable and postponement is not going to really help as students and parents continue to remain under stress Instead there should be internal assessment or grading The central government should intervenerdquo