Odisha Schools ‘Confused’ Over Govt’s Latest COVID Guidelines; Know Why

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government’s COVID-19 guidelines for March has created confusion among school authorities, students and parents as the advisory has talked about holding online exams for students of Classes 9 and 11.

The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) has directed the schools to hold online examinations for Classes 9 and 11 due to fear of a surge in COVID-19 infections.

“Considering the present situation, the school and mass education department may allow holding of of intra-school class promotion examination for Classes 9 and 11 by giving the option of online examination to the students with consent of their parents and guardians,” the guidelines stated.

According to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) order, the affiliated schools are ready for offline examination while some private schools affiliated to other boards have already begun the annual examination for Classes 9 and 11.

“The March guidelines really confused us and we cannot decide how to go about it. We have planned to conduct the annual exam for Classes 9 and 11 in the offline mode from Monday as per the CBSE guidelines. Today is Saturday and there is no time to inform all students for any change in exam schedule,” the principal of a leading CBSE school in Bhubaneswar was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

If school sources are to be believed, a large number of parents want the offline exams to avoid the possibilities of malpractice while students have been repeatedly requesting online exams.

Meanwhile, few schools are set to hold offline exams. “We are going to conduct the exam in offline mode following COVID-19 guidelines. Since the whole school is empty as there are no physical classes for junior students, we can easily maintain social distancing,” said principal of a leading school.

Also Read: Odisha’s COVID-19 Norms For March: Major Relief For ‘Jatra’ Operators