New Delhi: The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) board on Thursday postponed its class 10, 12 examinations due to coronavirus threat.
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) Chief Executive Gerry Arathoon said the exams have been postponed till March 31.
Three class 10 ICSE examinations and one class 12 ISE examination will be rescheduled to a later date, officials said.
The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry had on Wednesday directed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and all educational institutions to postpone exams till March 31 in view of the outbreak.
"While maintenance of academic calendar and exam schedule is important, equally important is safety and security of students who are appearing in various examinations as also of their teachers and parents," HRD secretary Amit Khare said in an official communication.
"All the ongoing examinations, including CBSE exams, be postponed till March 31 and rescheduled thereafter," he added.
Following the order, the CBSE has postponed ongoing Class 10 and 12 examinations till March 31 in view of the coronavirus outbreak.
"All ongoing CBSE examinations in India and abroad postponed till March 31 and will be rescheduled thereafter... after an assessment of the situation," CBSE Secretary Anurag Tripathi said.
"All ongoing evaluation work will be suspended during the period," he added.
The Joint Entrance Exam (JEE-Main) for admission to IITs and engineering colleges was also postponed on Wednesday in view of coronavirus, according to the HRD Ministry's National Testing Agency (NTA). The exam was earlier slated to be held from April 5 top AprilL 11.
The order also applies to exams organised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE Main).
Haryana cancels exams
The Haryana government on Wednesday cancelled annual examinations for Classes 1 to 8 in all government and private schools till March 31.
The Haryana School Education Department has the decision as a measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the officials said.
SSC postpones key recruitment exams
The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) on Thursday postponed its key recruitment examinations as a preventive measure to check the spread of novel coronavirus.
"As a precautionary measure, in view of the emergent situation due to COVID-19, it has been decided by the Commission, in the larger public interest, to postpone the ongoing Combined Higher Secondary (10+2) Level Examination (Tier-I), 2O19 with effect from March 20, 2020," it said in an order.
Similarly, the Junior Engineer (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Quantity Surveying & Contract) Examination (Paper-I) 2019, scheduled to commence from March 30, 2020, has also been postponed, the SSC said.
Fresh schedules for these examinations will be announced in due course, it said.
"Candidates are advised to visit the website of the Commission regularly for updates," the SSC said.
AMU postpones all exams scheduled till April 2
The Aligarh Muslim University on Thursday postponed all university examinations scheduled till April 2 in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The university has advised students residing in hostels to not panic and take every precaution while travelling to their home.
"All examinations scheduled till April 2 have been postponed and fresh dates for these examinations will be announced later," AMU spokesperson Omar Peerzada said.
The Maulana Azad Library on the campus has also been closed but the students will be allowed to issue books for home reading, he said.
Peerzada said school children and girl students should travel only after duly informing their parents or guardians and "should not panic or try to rush home as this was not needed at all".
