AHMEDABAD: The state government has announced that except in eight cities — Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh and Gandhinagar — the exams which were be conducted between March 19 and March 27 will be held on schedule. However, the Gujarat University and the Gujarat Technological University have decided to postpone the examinations.
Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama announced on Thursday that the decision to close schools in eight cities was taken following a
spike in the number of cases. The minister said that practicals and examinations will be conducted as usual for PG courses.
CBSE schools had sought clarification from the board in this connection and the board made it clear that the decision has to be taken by the state government. CBSE practical examinations scheduled for Friday has been postponed. Chudasama said offline examinations for the undergraduate and graduate levels, to be conducted between March 19 and April 10, 2021, have been postponed and the new dates will be announced afresh by the universities.
He said that the online education and home learning activities will continue in schools of these eight cities; while the first-test of secondary and higher secondary schools will be conducted through online examinations. The hostels of the universities will remain open, he said. However, the decision to close the schools has come under criticism from several sections including the management. The decision on practical examinations to be conducted for the class XII science stream of CBSE will be taken after consulting the various departments of the state government. A parent’s association said that when the entire system was set, and students had got used to online classes, there was no point in resuming offline classes. Several schools had given options for offline and online examinations to the students. They would be forced to postpone offline examinations and prepare a set of question papers for offline students. Manan Choksi of Udgam School for Children said that the school will postpone both the offline and online examinations. The government has continued with the examination for medical students. Once their examinations are over, they would be roped in for the Covid duties.
COURTESY- TOI
