Tension ran high in front of the Naveen Niwas here on Tuesday when a large number of Class-X students staged a rally before Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence demanding cancellation of this year’s Matric examination amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hundreds of students from various Government-run high schools gathered in the State capital and first met School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash at his residence and submitted a memorandum to him for cancellation of the Matric examination. Failing to get any clarity on the issue, the students later moved towards the Naveen Niwas to put forth their demand before the Chief Minister. However being unable to meet the CM, the students later staged a dharna on road at Forest Park.
They demanded that like ICSE and CBSE, the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha cancel the Class-X examination in view of the worsening Covid-19 situation in the State. They warned that they would stage an intensified protest at Master Canteen here in coming days if the Government does not take any decision in response to their demand in next two days. Notably, due to the increasing Covid positive cases, the State Government has postponed the examinations for Classes-X and XII and all UG and PG courses.