Odisha govt tells students to be ready for board exams

BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Monday suggested students of classes X and XII to be prepared for board exams amid a drop in daily Covid-19 cases.
“With the Covid situation improving, there are high chances that exams will be held on the scheduled date,” said school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash.
“The government wants the students to appear for offline examinations.We are keenly observing the situation and analysing the national scenario as well. If any special situation arises in the country as well as the state, as far as Covid-19 is concerned, the government will take a call accordingly. But given the present scenario, there is every possibility for the conduct of the examinations. So, the students should be ready for the board exams,” said Dash.
In the wake of rising Covid-19 cases triggered by the Omicron variant, the state government announced closure of offline classes in schools from January 5.
However, the state government successfully conducted summative examination-1 in offline mode amid the Omicron threat and more than five lakh students appeared for the exam in nearly 3,300 centres across Odisha.
The state government will ensure compliance of safety guidelines to conduct the examinations in offline mode, Dash added.
“We are also keen to conduct the board examination in offline mode. But with classrooms shut again it is a bit difficult for us to revise the chapters in online mode,” said Alka Pradhan, a class X student.