ICSE cancels class 10 boards exams, withdraws option for students to appear later

The ICSE class 10 board exams have been cancelled in view of the worsening COVID-19 situation, and the option for students to appear later has been withdrawn, board secretary Gerry Arathoon said on Tuesday.

Last week, the board had postponed both class 10 and 12 exams.

The Council for The Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) had announced that class 10 students will get an option to either write the exams later or get evaluated on the basis of alternative criteria.

"Given the present worsening situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the CICSE has decided to cancel the class 10 examination. The option for students announced earlier stands withdrawn. The safety and wellbeing of our students and teaching faculty are of topmost priority and paramount importance," said Arathoon, Secretary and Chief Executive of the CISCE.

"We are committed to devising a fair and unbiased criterion for declaring class 10 results. The criterion, as well as the date of declaration of the results, will be announced later," he said.

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Last week, in light of the nationwide surge in coronavirus cases, the class 10 and 12 exams, which were to be held from May 4, have been deferred, Gerry Arathoon had said in the announcement.

"We will closely monitor the situation, and review it in the first week of June to take a final decision on the conduct of examination," he had said.

"While class 12 exams will be conducted at a later stage, the class 10 students will get an option to either appear in offline exams later, or get evaluated on the basis of fair and unbiased criteria to be developed by the board," Arathoon had added, which has now been withdrawn.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had cancelled its class 10 board exams and deferred the class 12 board exams. Several state boards have postponed or cancelled exams, too.

(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)