Uttarakhand government postpones Class 10 and 12 board exams amidst COVID-19 scare

Manish Kumar, a student of class 12, said, "We were really scared about what is going in our country and the world. It became increasingly difficult to focus on studies."

For representational purposes (Photo|EPS)

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government on Saturday postponed the Class 10 and 12 board examinations as a precautionary move to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19 in the state.

Meenakshi Sundaram, secretary education of Uttarakhand, said, "The decision has been taken to avoid any spread amongst people of the state, especially children. The examinations will be conducted when the situation subsides."

The written order by Sundaram dated March 21, 2020 states that till further orders the examinations dated 23, 24 and 25 March 2020 will remain postponed.

Parents, teachers and students heaved a sigh of relief as panic was acting as a deterrent to focus on the examinations. 

Manish Kumar, a student of class 12, said, "We were really scared about what is going in our country and the world. It became increasingly difficult to focus on studies. Now we will get more time to study and will be safe at home."

More than 2.71 lakh students are appearing in the ongoing state board examinations in the state with 1.5 lakh from Class 10 and 1.21 lakh from Class 12.

Earlier, on March 12, the state government ordered the closure of all schools, both government and private, till March 31 in view of the coronavirus scare. 

Uttrakhand has around 17000 schools with over 4 lakh students.