Maharashtra Government Cancels SSC exams

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday decided to cancel the SSC exams due to the massive rise in COVID-19 cases in the state.

The decision was made during a state cabinet meeting which was chaired by Maharashtra's chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. After the conclusion of the cabinet meeting, Public Health minister Rajesh Tope said that the SSC exams for the Maharashtra State Board will be cancelled, and students will be directly promoted to class 11. However, the decision for having an assignment for the students will be decided by the school education department.

Tope then added that the class 12 board exams will be held as soon as the COVID-19 situation in the state improves.

Maharashtra's education minister Varsha Gaikwad also announced the cancellation of SSC exams

Meanwhile, Maharashtra's education minister Varsha Gaikwad also gave the same announcement on social media.  “Given the worsening situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government has now decided to cancel the state board exams for class 10th. Health and safety of students and teachers is our topmost priority," she announced on her official Twitter handle.

Given the worsening situation of the #Covid-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government has now decided to CANCEL the state board exams for class 10th. The health & safety of our students and teachers is our topmost priority.#exams #ssc #hsc pic.twitter.com/C8xCY3VVdX

— Varsha Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) April 20, 2021

Gaikwad then added that the decision was made after other boards made similar decisions regarding the class 10 and 12 exams. She also said that they are currently working on a method to mark students on the basis of their performance in internal assessments. "We will also consider giving students a chance to appear for the exam if they wish to. Details for the same will be discussed and worked out with experts," she said.

As far as the state board exams of class 12th are concerned, we have already conveyed our decision to postpone the exams these till May end. The status remains the same. We are closely monitor the health and safety situation in the state.#HSC #exams

— Varsha Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) April 20, 2021

The criterion on the basis of which results will be declared for class 10th & date of result declaration will soon be announced. The School Education Dept is committed to devising a "fair and accurate" assessment criterion.

— Varsha Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) April 20, 2021

About a week ago, Varsha Gaikwad had announced that the Maharashtra board's HSC and SSC exams had been postponed and that the new dates would be announced soon. She had also said that the Maharashtra government was writing to the ISC, ICSE, IB boards to compel them to reconsider the exam dates.