The SSC (Class 10) Board examinations would be held in the State as per schedule, Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh clarified on Wednesday.
Speaking to The Hindu, the Minister said as of now, the State would stick to the exam schedule as ‘the COVID situation is under control’.
He said that the Intermediate practical examniations were over and the the schedule for the SSC examination had been released.
“Half day schools are on in strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocols. We are conducting thousands of COVID tests daily on teachers and students and find very marginal number of positive cases,” said the Minister, reiterating that there was no cause for alarm.
The Minister’s statement assumes significance in the wake of the Centre’s decision on Wednesday to cancel the 10th class CBSE examinations and postpone the 12th class Class XII exams, scheduled to be held from May 4, in view of the spurt in COVID-19 cases across the country.
“The managements of schools and colleges across the State have been warned against violation of the Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) issued by the authorities to ensure COVID-appropriate behaviour on their respective campuses. If the situation warrants, the School Education Department may run schools on alternate days,” he said.
The State has been conducting physical classes for students from Class 1 to Class 10 and half day schools are being held at present.
Schools were reopened for students of Classes 6 to 12 in November last year, while classes for primary students (Classes 1 to 5) resumed in February this year. The decision to reopen schools for senior classes was taken keeping in view their board examinations.
