Punjab CM demands postponement of class X, XII exams

Chandigarh: Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, Punjab Chief Minister has demanded postponement of the Class X and XII board exams, in order to settle the uncertainty among students and their families.

The Chief Minister has written to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, pointing to the prevailing situation and stressing that, "it would only be appropriate that a decision is taken forthwith to postpone the Class X and XII board examinations."

He also pointed that postponing exams now will give ample time to Union government to plan out better for the conduct of examinations once the situation normalizes.

Urging an early intervention from the Union minister, the CM also said that that it was difficult to precisely predict as to when the surge in Covid cases will be arrested and by when will we see a consistently declining trend.

Further, he also cited that with different states experiencing considerable variance in the virus impact during the second wave of the infection, some are likely to peak a little earlier as compared to others.

"The steady increase in Covid-19 cases in most states has created a sense of great apprehension and anguish among students and parents alike regarding the board examinations for classes X and XII," CM said.

The Punjab government is receiving many requests seeking postponement of the board examinations by the state education board as well as by the CBSE and the ICSE, Amarinder Singh added.

The CBSE Board examinations for classes X and XII are scheduled to commence from May 4. The Punjab Board has broadly aligned its examination dates with those of the CBSE