States can conduct Class X and XII board exams: Centre

Hyderabad : The Centre has directed all the state government to conduct Class X, XII examinations amidst Covid-19 lockdown. However barring centers falling in containment zones.

“Requests have been received from the state government and CBSE for conducting the board examination and the matter has been examined in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Taking into consideration the academic interest of large number of students, it has been decided to grant exemption from the lockdown measures to conduct Board examination for Classes 10th and 12th', the center directed to all the states.

The letter comes at a time when several state governments are preparing to reschedule the board exams that were cancelled due to the Covid-19 lockdown, with the Centre issuing fresh guidelines for Lockdown 4.0.

However, the letter also said exception to conduct examination will be subjected to the following conditions. In the containment zones no examination centre will be permitted. The centre has set few guidelines:

1. Wearing of masks by teachers, staff and students will be mandatory
2. There shall be provision of thermal screening and sanitiser at the centre and social distancing in all the examination centres
3. In view of examination to be conducted by different boards, their examination schedule should be staggered
4. Special buses may be arranged by the state and UTs for the transportation of students to the examination centres.