VIJAYAWADA: Under a mounting pressure from opposition, teachers, students and many sections of society, the AP government has once again postponed Class 10 exams in view of the Covid-19 crisis and will take a fresh decision on the exams after reviewing the situation in July.
The SSC exams were scheduled to start on June 7, but a huge surge in Coronavirus cases in the second wave has turned a big hurdle to conduct them. Minister for education Adimulapu Suresh said that SSC and Intermediate exams are must for the good future of students hence the government is keen to conduct the exams in the coming days after reviewing the pandemic situation.
The SSC exams are usually held in March every year but due to Covid-19 crisis, the AP government postponed the exams. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy reviewed the situation several times and announced summer holidays to the schools planning to conduct SSC exams from June 7 expecting containment of Covid-19 situation. But things turned grimmer, forcing the government to postpone the exams.
Further several petitions are filed in the High Court, seeking cancellation of SSC exams. The teachers are also urging the government to administer Covid-19 vaccine to all teachers without fail before conducting the exams. Further, teachers unions lamenting over the illnesses and deaths of teachers due to Coronavirus sought cancellation of exams, taking the second wave spread into account.
Main opposition Telugu Desam and other political parties have also been demanding cancelling of SSC exams to save the students from the clutches of Covid-19 due to the severe surge in this second phase.
The adjacent Telangana state also cancelled the SSC exams, and passed all eligible students on the basis of internal assessments and exams. It even awarded grades to the students. The opposition parties asked AP to take cue and pass the students. Nearly 6 lakh students are to appear for SSC public exams but the swift spread and surge in Coronavirus turned a big worry to the students, teachers and parents.
Adimulapu Suresh said that the CM Jagan Mohan Reddy had ordered postponement of Class 10 examinations keeping in view the risks to students and teachers. He said the Central government was working on conducting CBSE examinations and the AP government wanted to go for the SSC and the Intermediate exams for the bright future of students in a protective and safe atmosphere. He affirmed that teachers are also not required to come to schools as exams are postponed.
The minister came down heavily on the TD leaders including Nara Lokesh for playing with the future of students by demanding the cancellation of exams and the passing of students without any exams. He said that there is no guarantee that Corona would go away if the exams are not conducted. He said that online classes would be held for SSC students to help them face the exams in future.
