Thiruvananthapuram: Following Friday's Supreme Court verdict, the Kerala government has decided to hold Plus One and Vocational Higher Secondary Education (VHSE) examinations from September 24, 2021.
While the Class 11 exams are scheduled to get over by October 18, the VHSE exams will be over by October 13. The government also said that there will be three to five days gap between the exam dates.
The Supreme Court had on Friday allowed the Kerala government to hold physical exams for Class 11 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed satisfaction over the steps being taken by it to ensure that no untoward situation is faced by students.
The top court said holistic approach has to be taken in the matter and the authorities concerned are conscious of their duties.
The apex court had on September 3 stayed for a week Kerala government's decision to conduct offline exams for Class 11 commencing from September 6 amid the rising cases of COVID saying "there is an alarming situation in the state".
The Kerala High Court on August 27 had observed that conducting examination was a matter of government policy and no interference was warranted.
After the favourable ruling by the Supreme Court, Education Minister V Sivankutty on Friday held discussions with the officials to decide the future course of action. The final decision was taken after consultation with chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Colleges to reopen from Oct 4
Regular offline classes will resume in higher education institutions and colleges from October 4 on an experimental basis.
Final-year degree students will have classes from October 4. Classes for final-year degree batches can be either held in two batches daily or batch-wise on alternate days.
But all post-graduate students will have classes on a daily basis.