NEW DELHI: In a move that is aimed at providing relief to a large number of students, the Union Human Resources Development ministry on Wednesday announced that the students who have moved to other states or districts can opt to appear in class 10 and 12 board exams by the Central Board of Secondary Education from there.
The move is expected be a boon for students of boarding schools as well as those in coaching hubs who had moved to their home districts in the wake of the lockdown, imposed in the country in order to contain Covid 19 pandemic.
“Class 10 and class 12 students who have moved to different state or district during lockdown can appear for pending board exam there,” said Union HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in a video message.
Board exams by the CBSE have been rescheduled as the papers could not be completed as the nationwide lockdown was announced on March 25. The remaining papers have to be held between July 1 and 15.
While the exams are being held for class 12 students across India, for class 10, only the students from north east Delhi, where widespread violence had taken place in February, will have to take the exams for the remaining papers.
Sources said that the ministry took the latest decision in view of the long distances that students would have to undertake and the quarantine measures that school authorities would have been forced to undertake.
Earlier, Nishank had declared that CBSE would increase the number of exam centres from 3,000 to 15,000 to make sure the students who appear in their class 10 and 12 CBSE board exams get the centre of their choice and also physical distancing between students in ensured during the papers.
Officials said that a number of residential schools had requested the CBSE and the ministry highlighting the struggle thousands of students will have to undertake if relaxations related to the examination centres are not given.