MHA grants exemption from lockdown to conduct Class 10, 12 board exams; no centres in containment zones

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday granted exemption from the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown rules for conducting the remaining Class 10 and Class 12 examinations. Terming safety of students, teachers and other stakeholders of board examination as an utmost priority, Shah said social distancing should be maintained and face masks should be worn by all.

The tweet was accompanied by a letter from Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla to Chief Secretaries of all the states, informing about the Centre’s  decision to allow holding of the remaining board examinations under strict guidelines. [caption id=“attachment_4999641” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] The MHA has asked exam conducting bodies like CBSE, CISCE and state boards to not allot any examination centre in the containment zone. The wearing of face masks have been made compulsory for teachers, students and staff. The home ministry has asked the boards to make provisions of thermal screening and keep hand sanitizers at the examination centres. Also, social distancing rules must be followed at all the places of examination. Follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak States and Union Territories have been asked to make arrangement of special buses for the transportation of students to the exam centre. Several board examinations have been postponed due to COVID-19 lockdown. According to NDTV, the MHA had last week given its nod to open 3,000 schools to work as CBSE paper evaluation centres. On 18 May, CBSE announced the dates for conducting the remaining Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations. The exams will be held from 1 to 15 July. According to The Indian Express, the health minister had raised concerns over conducting the remaining papers of CBSE. Human Resource and Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said, “We have issued guidelines to the CBSE in this direction. The guidelines issued by the Health Ministry will be followed at every cost.” The report mentioned that HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Tuesday announced that to ensure minimum travel, CBSE board examinations will be conducted in the schools where students have been enrolled to study.