The Andhra Pradesh government has announced that final exams for students from class 6 to 9 are to be cancelled, and all students are to be passed and promoted to the next grade. 

In a memo issued on Thursday from School Education Commissioner Vadrevu China Veerabhadrudu to all regional and district officials of the education department, it was ordered that all Summative Assessment II exams, or the final, annual exams for students of class 6 to 9 are to be cancelled, and the students are to be declared ‘all pass’, as the state is under lockdown till April 14. 

This means that all students of classes 6 to 9 will be promoted to the next grade without having to give their final exams. Exams for classes 1 to 5 have already been conducted, while the SSC (Secondary School Certificate) exams for Class 10, which were scheduled for March 31, have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The government had closed down all education institutions on March 19, as a precautionary measure. While Chief Minister Jagan, while announcing the state lockdown, had said that the SSC exams will continue, the Directorate of Government Examination said that they would have to be postponed as students will face difficulties in collecting hall tickets, and reaching examination centres.  

The governments of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have also announced that students in classes 1 to  9 would similarly be promoted to the next grade without final exams being conducted this academic year.  

Andhra Pradesh has recorded 10 cases of coronavirus so far. While Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam both have seen three cases each, the rest of the cases are in Nellore, Ongole, Rajahmundry, and Tirupati. The first patient from Nellore has since recovered and sent back home. As per a media bulletin released at 10 am on Thursday, there were 26,059 people who have recently returned from abroad, placed under observation, while 25,942 people are under home quarantine. One hundred and seventeen people are admitted in a hospital.