Telangana HC postpones SSC exams for Class 10 amid COVID-19 fears

The exams that were scheduled for March 21 will be held, but the remaining will be postponed till March 31, the High Court said.
Telangana HC postpones SSC exams for Class 10 amid COVID-19 fears
Telangana HC postpones SSC exams for Class 10 amid COVID-19 fears
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The Telangana High Court on Friday ordered that the ongoing Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations for Class 10 students in the Telangana state board, will be postponed, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The SSC exams began on March 19 and were scheduled to continue till April 6, 2020. As per the court's order, the exams that were scheduled for March 21 will be held, but the remaining would be postponed till after March 31. Meanwhile the exams for intermediate students, ie., classes 11 and 12, are getting over on March 23 and neither the court nor the petition made a mention about them. 

The court asked officials to decide on new dates after a review meeting. The High Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by M Balakrishna, a freelance educationalist. 

Speaking to The News Minute, the petitioner M Balakrishna said that he had been to examination centres on the first day of the exam and he observed that there were no scanning centres placed at the entrance. He also said that students were not being tested for their temperatures and not all schools were providing sanitisers.

"India is presently in the 'local transmission' stage of coronavirus and if public gatherings like these exams are encouraged, then it will result in the 'community transmission' stage," Balakrishna said. As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), local transmission is when positive cases are reported by people who come directly in contact with patients who tested positive. In community transmission on the other hand, a person who is not directly exposed to any infected person, can also test positive, suggesting that the infection is spreading through the community.

"Especially during the examination time, there are parents and students gathering outside the centres despite prohibitory orders not to do so and they have a high risk of spreading coronavirus even if there is a single infected person and it will result in a chain reaction," Balakrishna added.

In his PIL, the petitioner pointed out that the state was going ahead with exams though it had ordered the closure of all educational institutions till March 31. "This, despite the fact that CBSE and ICSE have already cancelled their respective board examinations, following the health advisory issued by the Centre," the PIL stated.

The PIL argued that students would be cramped in small classrooms and it was almost impossible to ensure the maintenance of the prescribed 1-metre gap between students. It also said that parents congregate outside examination centres and many still use public transport to reach the examination centre. "The government has also failed to ensure that adequate number of mass and liquid soaps are made available at all the examination centres," Balakrishna stated in his petition.

Speaking to TNM, Srinivasa Rao, Deputy Commissioner, Telangana State School Education department said that they were yet to receive the orders from the High Court. "If we receive a written statement from the High Court, we don't have any choice but to postpone the exams until further notice. We cannot force exams if people and students are not willing to write them," he said.

The case will come up for hearing again on March 30.

On Friday, Telangana Education Minister Sabitha Indrareddy along with Hyderabad District Education Officer Venkata Narsamma and others, reviewed the arrangements being made in SSC exam centers and spoke to invigilators and students.  

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