HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Telangana High Court (HC) on Friday will hear the State government’s plea, seeking permission to conduct the Class X exam as per a revised schedule, on May 19.
The bench will hear the PIL filed earlier by M Bala Krishna, faculty at a private educational institution in the city, seeking the postponement of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) public examination-2020 in view of Covid-19 pandemic.
On Friday, State Advocate General (AG) BS Prasad made a special mention before the bench of Justices MS Ramachandra Rao and K Lakshman with a plea to vacate/modify the interim orders passed by the court on March 20 so as to enable the State government to complete the remaining examinations.
The Telangana government decided to conduct the remaining examinations keeping the academic calendar and interests of the students in view, he added.
After hearing the AG’s submissions, the bench said it would hear the matter on May 19. On March 20, the HC directed the State government to postpone the Class X exams, scheduled for March 23 to April 6, in view of the Covid-19 outbreak. Prior to the court order, the State conducted the exam for three papers of the first and second languages as per the timetable. The court passed this interim order in the above PIL.
Public transport likely to be opened up for students
Meanwhile, the Education Department’s Special Chief Secretary, Chitra Ramachandran, filed an affidavit in the HC convincing it to allow the government to conduct the pending SSC exams during which public transport would play an essential role.
For this, public transport is likely to be opened up for the students by May-end. District Education Officer of Hyderabad, B Venkata Narasamma, said “Everything is in place for conducting of exams. If the court says yes, public transport must be opened for students and invigilators till the exams end,” he said.