Maharashtra school education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Wednesday said a proposal has been sent to the disaster management authority regarding the state board exams for Class 12 students and a decision on the issue will be taken in a couple of days.
She said the issue was discussed at a meeting of the state cabinet here, a day after the Centre cancelled the CBSE Class 12 board exams citing the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.
Amid the pandemic which has hit Maharashtra hard, Gaikwad said, students’ health remains the top priority for the state government.
Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, Gaikwad said, A proposal has been sent to the disaster management authority regarding the Class 12 state board examinations. The authority will hold a meeting and a decision will be out in a couple of days.” ”Our priority is health and safety of students. They are facing two challenges – curriculum and the pandemic,” she said.
There is no change in the government’s earlier stand on conducting state board exams for Class 12 students, Gaikwad said.
”However, we need to wait for an official announcement from the disaster management authority,” the minister added.
”It is an uncommon situation (a reference to pandemic) for the society. Hence, some uncommon decisions need to be taken, she said.
Asked about her earlier communication with the Union government regarding Maharashtra’s stand on Class 12 exams, the minister said, The situation in the state was serious with rising number of COVID-19 cases.” The state has communicated its concerns to the Union government in this regard, Gaikwad said.
There has not been enough vaccination to allow students to come out and attend schools or face exams, she said.
A lot of human resource is required to conduct examinations, Gaikwad said.
It is not just about students and teachers. To conduct examinations, we need a lot of manpower for movement of papers, preparations at schools, distribution of exam papers, collection of answer-sheets and their assessment, among other things,” she said.
The examinations were slated in April and May as per an earlier plan, but the second wave of coronavirus disrupted the schedule.
The Maharashtra government has already cancelled the Class 10 state board exams this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
