Nearly two months after postponement, the Telangana High Court on Tuesday gave clearance to conduct Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations for Class 10 students in the state.
Earlier in March, the High Court decided to postpone exams amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Exams which began on March 19 were scheduled to continue till April 6.
The Telangana government recently filed an affidavit before the court, seeking permission to conduct exams in a safe manner by taking all precautions.
Two exams were already conducted as per the past schedule. Exams for the remaining four subjects will likely be held in the second week of June. The High Court has asked the government to review the COVID-19 situation and containment measures in the state on June 3 and submit a report on June 4.
The Court observed that the state government should not conduct the exams if the situation is threatening. With this, the Telangana Education Department is set to conduct the remaining examinations.
The SSC Class 10 examinations are qualifying exams for admission into Intermediate (+2) in the state.
The court postponed exams after M Balakrishna, an educationist, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in view of the pandemic situation.
Speaking to TNM, M Balakrishna said that the High Court has not given 'blanket clearance' to the government on conducting exams.
He said, "The court has not given a blanket clearance to the state to go and conduct examinations. Now that the lockdown has been relaxed, there is every chance of a spike or increase in cases, as per experts. The court asked the government to wait for 10 days. On June 3, the government is supposed to review the situation. If there is a sudden or abnormal increase in the number of cases, the government should reconsider conducting exams and subsequently postpone them. However, if the situation is under control, the government can conduct the exams."
Meanwhile, several universities offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses are yet to conduct end semester exams in the state.
So far, Telangana has reported 1,592 COVID-19 cases with 1,002 recoveries and 34 deaths.