Guwahati/Agartala, Jun 8 (IANS): Unlike many other states in the country, the Assam government on Tuesday announced that it would hold the secondary (Class X) and higher secondary (Class XII) board examinations with reduced number of subjects in August.
After holding meetings with all the stakeholders, including students' bodies and teachers, on Tuesday, Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu told the media that before holding the High School Leaving Certification (HSLC or Class X) and higher secondary (Class XII) examinations, all the invigilators and staff involved in the entire process would be vaccinated.
Around seven lakh students, who are scheduled to appear for the board exams this year, would be given the choice of papers and they would not have to appear for all the subjects.
The exams are likely to be held between August 1 and August 15.
Pegu said the exams would be conducted by strictly following all the Covid-19 protocols.
The HSLC exams are conducted by the Board of Secondary Education Assam (SEBA), while the higher secondary exams are held by the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC).
The minister said that the number of Covid positive cases is gradually coming down in the state, and if this trend continues, it would give a good window to hold both the examinations before August 15.
He also said that the government would consider the ensuing monsoon flood situation in Assam and would choose the examination centres accordingly.
The opposition Congress, however, has demanded the cancelation of both the examinations.
In a letter to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam Congress President Ripun Bora urged him to formulate a mechanism or an evaluation system in order to cope up with CBSE's internal assessment after the cancellation of the examinations by the central board.
"Several hundreds of students and their parents are not only battling with their lives every day, but are also under a great amount of trauma of losing their loved ones. Under such circumstances, it is not feasible to hold SEBA and AHSEC examinations in Assam," Bora said in the letter.
Thousands of students from Assam through various social media platforms have also been demanding that the state government must cancel the board exams in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Tripura Education and Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath said that he has convened a meeting of all the stakeholders on June 14 to decide on holding the secondary (Madhyamik) and higher secondary examinations in the state.
On June, the Centre had cancelled the Class XII exams of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for 2021.
After the government's decision, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) also scrapped the ISC Class XII exams for this year, saying that a scheme for evaluating the students will be announced soon.
The decision to cancel the CBSE Class XII board exams was taken in a review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In view of the pandemic situation, various state governments in the country had already cancelled the board examinations in their respective states.