As Maharashtra spearheads the second COVID-19 wave in the country, state Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad on Monday, 12 April announced that board exams for class 10 and 12 will be postponed given the steep rise in COVID-19 cases in the state.
Gaikwad took to Twitter saying, "Given the current situation in Maharashtra, we've postponed state board exams for class 10th & 12th. The present circumstances are not conducive for holding exams. Your health is our priority.”
She added that exams for professional courses and class 12th will be held by end of May, while 10th standard exams will be held by June.
“Fresh dates for these exams will be announced accordingly,” the education minister tweeted.
‘Life is Precious’: Sonu Sood, Others Call for Cancellation of Boards
Her tweet came shortly after actor Sonu Sood had appealed to the authorities on social media to not conduct board and other in-person examinations owing to the health risks amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sonu Sood wrote: "This time the Board exams are not for the students but for the authorities. They cancel the exams: They pass. They conduct the exams: They fail. Life is precious."
Music composer Vishal Dadlani had also tweeted last week: "So curfews and the threat of lockdown everywhere, restaurants and bars closed early, section 144 in many places, masks in cars but....students must physically attend and give exams? Absurd. Stop endangering people with crappy planning!”
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)