The annual matriculation and Plus II examinations 2021 would be held offline, not online, informed School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash on Thursday.
“As the CBSE has announced regarding the Classes-X and XII board examinations that will be conducted in written mode next year, the State Government will also hold the examinations accordingly,” he told the media.
However, he made it clear that examinations would be delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “It is not possible on the part of both Board of Secondary Education (BSE) and Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) to conduct the matric and Plus II examinations in February and March, respectively, because many students are far off getting online education during closure of schools due to the pandemic. As the School & Mass Education Department is considering reopening of the schools for the students of Class-IX onwards, the board examinations can only be held after resumption of the classes offline,” Dash said.
The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) office has clearly mentioned in its guidelines that the academic institutions under the control and supervision of School & Mass Education Department can reopen for Classes-IX to XII as per the SOP issued by the department.
“We will take decision keeping the students’ interest in mind as per the Covid guidelines,” the Minister said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) said the board examinations of 2021 would be conducted in the conventional written mode. “The board examinations of 2021 will be in the regular written manner and not online,” the CBSE stated.
The dates of examination, however, have not been decided yet, officials said.