Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extending the nationwide lockdown for COVID-19 containment till May 3. This will have a direct impact on the board exams and entrance tests which have been put on hold due to containment measures taken by the government to stop the spread of the coronavirus, that has infected over 10,000 people in the country till date.
Board exams in many states and those conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) have been postponed.
While many state boards have decided to release the results without conducting the pending exams, CBSE could only implement the same strategy by debarring few papers which are not the "main subjects". Over 30 lakh students appear for CBSE board exams and the exams are held for over 30,000 subject combinations. So far, the very best decision the Board could take was to decide to conduct the exams for remaining "main subjects" only.
When asked about the Board's decision on the pending exams and tests, CBSE official said the guidelines will be released tomorrow.
While the Centre has not yet decided on how long schools will remain close, Odisha government has announced that schools in the state remain closed till June 17. With this, it is assumed that CBSE schools in the state will not resume exams before June 17.
On the other hand, engineering (JEE Main) and medical entrance exams (NEET) have also been postponed due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
In the last week of March, after the PM had imposed nationwide lockdown for 21 days NTA had announced that the NEET and JEE Main will be held in last week of May. With today's announcement it is expected that the dates of these exams will be pushed further.
Other exams for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate courses will begin post lockdown.
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