PUNE: The Maharashtra state board exams for Std X and XII could be held in the offline mode in February-March 2022.
Dinkar Patil, chairman, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, said that if the Covid-19 situation remains the same for the next five months, the exam will definitely be held in the offline mode.
“However, we will be ready for the online mode as well as plan B to ensure that students have no last-minute trouble. We cannot sit back and relax till the final decision is taken,” he said.
Two national education boards, CBSE and CISCE, will conduct their semester I examinations in the offline mode in November-December.
At a recent meeting with state education minister Varsha Gaikwad, stakeholders, including teachers, school representatives, task force members and education officials, rooted for offline examinations for secondary school certificate (SSC, Std X) and higher secondary certificate (HSC, Std XII) exams to be held in February-March.
The members said that students should prepare for offline exams too. For the last two exams, they were assessed on internal assessments due to the pandemic situation.
State board education officers present for the meeting said that the department was making preparations for the offline exams. The exams in the last year had been scheduled and later cancelled due to the rise in Covid-19 cases.
A senior official from the education department said education officers had visited the Savitribai Phule Pune University recently to know how they conducted the online proctored examination.
“There are over 35 lakh students taking the exam and a feasibility check on the proctored mode was done in case we have to conduct online exams,” he added.
The officials had submitted a feedback during a meeting with the education minister that the online examination for so many students would be next to impossible.
The tentative time table for the exam will be announced after the Diwali vacations, said Patil.
A member of the committee that was part of the meeting with the minister, raised the concern of travelling especially in Mumbai where local trains are not allowed for individuals who are not vaccinated.
The school education department stated that the issues was being studied.
