As part of the precautionary measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, Punjab today announced the postponement of the state education board's examinations of classes 10 and 12 till March 31. The decision to put on hold the Punjab State Education Board or PSEB exam has been take in line with the central educational boards' measure, reported Press Trust of India. The PSEB has become the fifth major board to postpone the Board exams in two days after CBSE, CISCE, RBSE and MPBSE.
The Punjab Board exams for Class 12 students, which began on March 3, 2020 with General Punjabi, and History and Culture of Punjab paper, were scheduled to conclude on April 3.
As precautionary measures, the Amarinder Singh government in Punjab will also stop all public transport across the state from midnight, Buses, auto-rickshaws and tempos will not be allowed to ply in the state from Friday. It was decided to limit public gathering to 20 people and shut wedding halls, hotels and restaurants, except home delivery services and takeaways across the state.
Earlier in the day, Govind Singh Dotasra, Minister for Education, Rajasthan, said in a statement that the Class 10, 12, 5 and 8 board exams conducted by the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education or RBSE have been put on hold till further orders.
Before this, the Madhya Pradesh Secondary Education Board has also postponed the state board examinations scheduled till March 31.
CBSE or Central Board of Secondary Education, yesterday, in an unprecedented but not surprising move, cancelled all board exams which were scheduled between March 19 and March 31. The board examinations have been cancelled for both classes 10 and 12. Not only board exams, but the Ministry of Human Resource Development asked all schools, universities, and other institutes to cancel all scheduled exams and entrance exams till March 31.
Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) has also cancelled the board examinations for class 12 and class 10 students scheduled between March 19 and March 31. The revised dates for conduct of remaining papers will be announced by the Council later.
A 70-year-old man who returned from Germany via Italy a fortnight ago and died in hospital after severe chest pain, was found to be positive for novel coronavirus, senior officials said.
Local Bodies minister Brahm Mohindra said the public dealing in government offices will also be restricted, reported news agency Press Trust of India. "The government is ready to deal with any eventuality," he was quoted as saying by PTI.
Earlier on March 13, Punjab announced closing of all schools in the state till March 31 to prevent spread of coronavirus.
Punjab Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla, however, on Friday said exams would be continued to be conducted according to schedule.
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