This story is from June 30, 2020

Odisha govt expected to take a call on pending board exams today

The Odisha government is yet to come to a decision on the pending higher secondary (Plus II) exams pushing the career of lakhs of students into uncertainty. A high-level meeting was held at Lokseva Bhawan on Monday to decide on the pending exams under the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) in the state. However, the meeting remained inconclusive after hours of deliberations.
Odisha govt expected to take a call on pending board exams today
BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government is yet to come to a decision on the pending higher secondary (Plus II) exams pushing the career of lakhs of students into uncertainty. A high-level meeting was held at Lokseva Bhawan on Monday to decide on the pending exams under the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) in the state. However, the meeting remained inconclusive after hours of deliberations.
The move followed national boards like CBSE and ICSE’s decision to cancel the pending examinations.

“It is not an easy decision to take. We are taking the views of all the stakeholders including parents, teachers and students before arriving at a final decision. The Covid-19 situation in the state is getting worse with increasing cases and it does not seem safe to conduct the exams. We will announce the final decision on Tuesday,” school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Das said.
The CHSE had postponed all the Plus II board examinations scheduled after March 23. The annual Plus II exams started on March 3, while the vocational ones on March 17. The exams scheduled till March 21 were held as per schedule.
Sources said while the biology exam was left t be conducted in the science stream, subjects like economics, sociology and statistics were pending in the arts stream. Similarly, cost accounting and business management exams were yet to be conducted in the commerce stream. The state government had earlier announced that the decision on the pending exams would be taken after July 1.
“There is no confusion over the marking system as the guidelines followed by CBSE will be followed by all other boards in the country,” Das pointed out.
The uncertainty over the pending Plus II exams is making students and parents more anxious with every passing day. Those who have been preparing for national-level entrance examinations like NEET, IIT-JEE and CLAT and so on simultaneously are finding it difficult to focus on their studies. “Our future looks bleak. We are not sure if we should study for the pending Plus II exams or for the entrance tests. If the CBSE and ICSE boards have cancelled the examinations, the state board should also follow suit,” Saswat Patnaik, a Plus II science student, said.
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Minati Singha

Minati Singha is a correspondent at The Times of India, and covers education, health, art, culture and lifestyle trends. She is fun-loving and adventurous, with a ‘never say no’ attitude. Her hobbies include reading novels, listening to music and watching movies.

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