Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad on Monday said that the Maharashtra government is planning to conduct the SSC and HSC Board examinations in mid-April and early May.
"We are considering holding HSC exams after April 15 and SSC exams after May 1," Gaikwad tweeted on Sunday. The Minister added that the government is consulting the health officials on the possibility of reopening schools for classes 5 to 8, and decision would soon be taken on this.
After the declaration of CBSE Board Exam 2021 dates, many states have also shared the dates when the exams would be conducted.
Normally, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) conducts the crucial HSC exams in February followed by SSC in March. This year, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, the state schools are shut since the past 10 months and students have been attending online classes.
While endorsing the Minister's announcement, the Mumbai Principals Association (MPA) has said that the exams should be pushed back even more since students will not get sufficient time to prepare for these critical exams. "The online classes are just okay and not very efficient. There is no decision on reopening the schools for regular classes so far. January-Febebruary 2021 may be a washout.
According to MPA's estimates there are a little more than 150,000 schools in the state attended by over 10 million students who are taught by around one million teachers in the public and private sector. Parents and students also apprehend that they stand to lose a second consecutive year of the much-awaited annual summer vacations, and they would be compelled to cancel their holiday plans even this year.
(With inputs from IANS)
