HPBOSE 2021: Himachal Pradesh postpones Class 10, 12 exams in view of rising COVID-19 cases

After Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, the Himachal Pradesh Government has postponed the board exams for Class 10 and Class 12. The decision has been taken due to the rising COVID-19 cases in the state. The undergraduate university examinations which were scheduled to start from 17 April have also been called off. “The issue will be reviewed at the government level on 1 May and further directions will be issued accordingly,” stated a statement issued by the State Government. The state had earlier announced that no visitor from Punjab, Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra would be allowed to enter without a negative RT-PCR report. But going back on his original order, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has now stated that no one will be stopped at interstate borders. “The state’s tourism industry has already suffered a huge loss. Rather than stopping tourists at the borders, we are proposing stricter standard operating procedures in hotels,” he said. The government is in denial over the rising coronavirus cases in the state. Recently, several boarding school staff members and students have tested positive for the virus. Although schools and colleges are closed in the state, residential schools are still operational. Boarding schools in the Solan district, including Gurukul International School, MRA DAV School, and Pinegrove School have reported positive cases in the last few days. “Fifteen staff members at the MRA DAV School contracted the virus, including those employed in the hostel. A similar number of cases were reported from other schools and were mostly limited to staff members. Isolated cases were reported among the resident students as well,” informed Medical Officer Mukta Rastogi. The state currently has 6,929 active coronavirus cases. A total of 1,148 people have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus, as per the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.