The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to postpone the intermediate board exams, which were earlier scheduled to be held from May 5 to 19. “Considering the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s directions to reconsider the decision to hold intermediate exams, respecting the court’s view, we are postponing the exams,” state Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh said in a statement to the media on May 2.
“We understand that students who are set to appear in the exams, and their parents, are feeling anxious amid news of rising COVID-19 cases in the country and within the state,” Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh said. “As soon as the situation improves, the government will announce the new dates for the exams,” he added.
Earlier, the YSRCP government had insisted on holding the exams for intermediate, the equivalent of class 11 and 12 in the state, amid objections from the opposition, Telugu Desam Party( TDP), as well as students and parents, who expressed fear about students writing exams during a surge in COVID-19 infections in the state. On April 30, the Andhra Pradesh High Court, while hearing multiple petitions seeking cancellation of the intermediate exams, asked the state government to reconsider its decision. The court had directed the state government to file an affidavit before the next hearing on May 3. “The decision to postpone the exams to a later date will be conveyed to the High Court on May 3,” Minister Adimulapu Suresh said.
The YSRCP government had earlier said that the Union government had left the decision on holding class 10, 11 and 12 exams up to the state governments and wanted to hold the intermediate exams. Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy had said that in the absence of exams, students would be given a mere pass certificate, and would be unable to compete with students from other states who have higher marks, while seeking admissions to top colleges. However, both the ICSE and CBSE class 12 boards, which were scheduled to begin in the first week of May, have been postponed due to rising COVID-19 cases.