Last paper of SSC exam postponed
New date to be declared after March 31
MUMBAI: To ensure the safety of students amid the coronavirus outbreak, the state education department has decided to postpone the geography paper — the last exam — of the ongoing Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board exams that was scheduled to be held on Monday.
Education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Saturday morning said, “Considering the growing number of cases in the state, we have decided to postpone the last paper, which was scheduled to be held on Monday, to ensure that students stay safe. The new date of the exam will be declared after March 31,” she added.
Several parents and schools had requested the education department to take the step considering the risk it poses to students outside as well as inside exam halls.
“It is a good step. We need to ensure the safety of students first before anything else,” said Anubha Sahai, president of the Indiawide Parents Association (IWPA), which had written to the department a few days ago regarding the issue.
On Saturday, the students wrote the history exam during which several centres in the state provided them with hand sanitisers and masks before entering the exam hall. “We had given such instructions to all centres,” said Sandeep Sangave, secretary, Mumbai divisional board.
After parents tweeted about crowding in many places across the city owing to the exam on Saturday, the chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Priyank Kanoongo, said the police should act against those responsible for the crowd. “Lodge FIR u/s 75 of JJ Act 2015 & section 188 IPC,” he tweeted.
Around 17 lakh students are appearing for the exam in Maharashtra state this year.