Kerala: Higher secondary practical examinations postponed

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Following appeals from various teachers’ organizations and concerns expressed by students and parents, the state general education department has postponed the higher secondary and vocational higher secondary practical examinations scheduled to begin on April 28.
The theory examinations of both higher secondary and vocational higher secondary second-year students came to a close on Monday. “New dates would be announced later,” said the director of general education and examination commissioner Jeevan Babu.
Higher secondary equivalency examination scheduled to be held from May 3 to 8 has also been postponed in view of the rapid spike in Covid-19 cases.Meanwhile, there is no change in the SSLC examination, which according to the current schedule, would end on April 29.
Several teachers’ organizations had appealed to the state government to postpone or cancel the lab examinations. The possibility of the lab examinations turning into super spread events was pointed out by them. Since most of the equipment in school laboratories are to be shared among students for the practical examination, its conduct amid the pandemic would be akin to exposing large number of students and teachers to health risks, teachers had claimed.
The state human rights protection panel had also asked the state government to postpone the practical examination, citing the health emergency. Generally, practical examinations are conducted before the start of theory examinations. However, the schedule got upended as the original schedule was scrapped in view of the assembly elections.
PSC postpones all exams in May
Kerala Public Service Commission has postponed all its examinations scheduled for May, in view of the Covid surge. “There will be no PSC examinations in May. The revised dates of the postponed examinations will be announced later,” an official statement from the PSC said.