UP Board Exams For Classes 10 And 12 Postponed, Schools To Remain Shut Till May 15

UP board exams postponed: The Uttar Pradesh government announced the postponement of the state board exams 2021 on Thursday, in view of a sharp surge in COVID-19 cases. All schools and colleges in the state have been directed to remain shut till May 15.

This decision comes a day after the central Education Ministry postponed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exams for class 12 and cancelled them for class 10 students. Read more on that here. 

As per reports, the meeting to postpone UP boards was attended by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. He had announced earlier this week that UP schools will be shut till April 30.

Students Get Some Respite As UP Board Exams Postponed

As per UP Deputy Chief Minister and education minister Dinesh Sharma, 15 out of 19 officials in charge of conducting the UP board exams were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 this week, which tensed the situation for students and parents further.

"It is not easy to take decisions in the context of UP. Prayagraj’s board of Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Council is the largest educational board in the world, in which about 56-57 lakh students of high school and intermediate appear every year. Our examinations were scheduled from April 24, which had been scheduled from May 8 in view of corona infection," Sharma had stated.

India has overtaken Brazil to become the second worst-affected country in the world at 1,40,74,564 recorded coronavirus cases, as of April 15. UP is being counted among states with the highest active cases (1,11,835) in the country alongside Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh, as per government data.

Students in UP had been rallying for a reconsideration of board exams with online petitions and social media trends. Approximately 59 lakh students are to appear for the state boards.