Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Mar 22: Shortly after chief minister B S Yediyurappa announced postponement of SSLC exams in the wake of rising coronavirus cases, primary and secondary education minister Suresh Kumar on Sunday March 22 announced that the ongoing second PU exam will also be postponed.

Second PU students across the state were scheduled to answer their last exam on Monday March 23, but now the same has been put off. Only English paper was remaining.

Minister Suresh Kumar held discussions with the officials of the education department on Sunday. As coronavirus has been spreading rapidly, lockdown has been imposed in nine districts of the state.

Therefore, for the convenience and safety of the students, the exam has been postponed. The new date is yet to be announced.

"Adequate arrangements had been made for the last second PU exam that was to be held on Monday, and we were sure that the students could answer the exam with confidence. However, as the state has taken measures against the spread of coronavirus, we need to respond appropriately. The exam has hence been postponed. The revised date for the exam will be announced soon," Suresh Kumar said.

Earlier in the day, the minister had said that the exam would be held as scheduled, however, it was decided to postpone the same later in the day.

The education department has also issued several guidelines to second PU students, invigilators and staff to follow during the exam. They have been asked to mandatorily wear masks inside the exam centre and use hand sanitizers. Special KSRTC buses have been arranged to ferry students from Kerala to their respective exam centres and drop them back home. They have been instructed to cooperate with medical checks at the Kerala-Karnataka border. Other students too would be subjected to medical check-ups at the exam centre, and hence have been asked to arrive well in time.