Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged the Centre to frame national guidelines on time frame for conduct of board exams and duration of academic session 2020-21 in the wake of prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation.
The Chief Minister wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.
In absence of clarity on academic session and conduct of both Standard-X and Standard-XII Board examinations, all enrolled students and their parents/teachers are in a state of uncertainty. It is leading to anxiety among all, the Odisha CM said.
As all competitive entrance examinations and admission in institutions of Higher Education are interlinked, national guidelines with tentative timelines will help the States for framing appropriate strategy. It will also help students who are anxious about the examination dates to plan and prepare accordingly, Naveen mentioned in his letter.
The CM said, “Due to Covid-19 pandemic all educational institutions are closed in Odisha since March 17, 2020. Keeping in view the safety and security of students and after consultation with different stakeholders and experts, we have decided to keep educational institutions closed up to December 31, 2020. We have been trying to reach out to maximum number of students digitally through different modes, but it is not possible to cover all students and prepare them to face Boards and different competitive examinations”.
Naveen urged the Centre to bring clarity on time frame for conduct of the Board and Higher Secondary Examinations and duration of academic session 2020-21.