Hundreds of students demanded online exams for board members taking to the streets. A large group of students marched to the home of the education minister of Maharashtra School, Varsha Gaikwad, to mark their protest. Students demanded to take SSC and HSC exams online. Given the large crowd outside Gaikwad’s house despite the covid-19 pandemic, the police had to evict the students.
Police claim they resorted to a “mild baton charge” to prevent them from going to the minister’s residence nearby. The protest took place at Ashok Mill Naka in Dharavi and police had to resort to a lenient baton charge, an official said.
The students, who had gathered from areas like Thane and Nashik next to the metropolis based on information shared on social media, were not authorized to join the protest, the police official added. “Not a single student was injured in the lathicharge. Some of them were taken to the local police station and released shortly after,” a police officer told PTI.
Maharashtra Board aspirants have been demanding online exams or cancellation of Maharashtra Board 10th and 12th exams on social media platforms for months. Students have now put their protest offline. The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has announced to start class 10 exams from March 15, while for HSC students, theory exams will start on March 4.
Students are demanding online exams for online classes. Lakhs of students eligible to appear before the Maharashtra board argue that holding exams amid mounting cases of Omicron could pose a health threat. Furthermore, students also claim that they have not received an equivalent and quality education due to online classes. Maharashtra’s government had authorized district authorities to open schools from January 24, but only Mumbai-based schools had started offering face-to-face classes. Pune will resume classes in physical mode from February 1.
Read |MPBSE MP Board Exams To Be Postponed, School Reopening May Be Delayed
Students in grades 10 and 12 fall under the category of the population eligible for vaccination. The government had previously rolled out the vaccination for 15 to 18-year-olds, a second dose for the teenagers will also be available from January 31.
Last year, Gaikwad had said that the government should introduce an exam-free track for students. Maharashtra Board had released the results based on students’ performance over the past three years, but this year, students have been asked to take exams offline. As about 15 lakh students appear for the Maharashtra Board exams, authorities had assured that the exams will be held with strict covid-19 precautions.
The class 10 and 12 exam 2022 will be held in two shifts – the first half will start from 10:30 am to 2:00 pm and the second half will be held from 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm, according to the schedule. The MSBSHSE Maharashtra Board SSC, HSC Exams 2022 will be held offline and the results will be announced in June. The board has also slashed the syllabus by 25 percent for both grades 10 and 12, Gaikwad had previously announced.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.
