Andhra Pradesh government postpones Intermediate examinations due to rising Covid-19 cases

The Jaganmohan Reddy government which is facing criticism and a court case over its resolve to conduct exams, Sunday decided to postpone the intermediate final examinations which were scheduled to commence on May 5.

The decision came on a day when the state reported a record-high 23,920 new Covid-19 cases and the active case figure stood at 1.43 lakh.

The YSRCP government has stated that the intermediate exam schedule is now deferred, taking the Andhra Pradesh High Court's recommendations and the Covid-19 case spike into consideration.

Reviewing various petitions seeking the cancellation of the school examinations because of the severity of the coronavirus case spread in the state, the high court had on Friday asked the government to reconsider its decision to go ahead with 10th and intermediate examinations amid the Covid-19 second wave.

“The examinations were scheduled to start from May 5, but due to the spike in Covid-19 cases across the state, the High Court had suggested reconsidering the decision. (So,) the government had postponed the examinations. The new dates for conducting inter-examinations will be announced as soon as the pandemic eases,” AP education minister Adimulapu Suresh said on Sunday.

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Chief Minister Reddy had earlier reiterated his government's resolve to conduct the tenth and intermediate exams “for the benefit of students.”

“States not conducting exams are only giving pass marks to the students. How can our students get admission in good colleges with such marks? What about their 50-year future with such marks?” the CM questioned last week, responding to criticism from the opposition parties and other quarters.

Reddy said that the Centre has left the decision to conduct exams with the states and that Kerala has already completed the 10th exams.

“We had decided to conduct examinations, as both Class X and Intermediate grades play a vital role in students' careers,” Adimulapu said.

While the intermediate (+2) exams were slated to begin from 5 May, class 10 exams were planned to be held from June 7 to 14.