Covid-19: Rajasthan promotes students of Classes 6 and 7 without exams

Rajasthan on Monday decided to promote students of Classes 6 and 7 without conducting any examinations due to the current spike in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases. Education minister Govind Singh Dotasra said that the decision has been taken keeping in mind the interest of students. “Taking a major decision in the interest of the students, the Education Department has decided to promote the students of Classes 6 and 7,” Dotasra said in a tweet.

Rajasthan on Sunday reported 5,105 Covid-19 cases, which pushed the disease tally in the state to 363,793. The death toll reached 2926 with 10 related fatalities. Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said that the state will be forced to impose stricter measures if people do not adhere to Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. He also said that rural areas of Rajasthan have seen a spike in cases. The Union health ministry on Monday said that Rajasthan is among 10 states along with Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat which have reported a steep rise in their daily caseload and accounting for 83.02% of the fresh Covid-19 cases being recorded.

Rajasthan joins Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry who promoted students without examination due to the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases. Maharashtra on April 3 announced that it will promote students from Class 1 to Class 8 without any examination. The state’s education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Monday also said that the board exams for Classes 10 and 12 have been postponed. The board exams for Class 10 will now be held by the end of June while those of Class 12 will be held by the end of May.

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on February 25 had announced that students of Classes 9, 10, and 11 will be promoted to the next classes without any examination due to the pandemic. The Assam government on March 3 announced that it will promote students of Classes 1 to 9, news agency ANI reported.

The Odisha state education board on March 17 promoted all the students from standard 1 to 8 to the next class without exams. Chhattisgarh on March 21 promoted students of all classes barring Class X and XII due to the Covid-19 situation in the state.

Puducherry governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on March 11 approved the proposal of promoting students of Classes 1 to 9 in the Union Territory. Students of Classes 10 and 11 in Puducherry and Karaikal regions which follow the Tamil Nadu State Board of Education pattern of the curriculum were also promoted along with students of classes 10 and 11 in Mahe and Yanam regions who follow the guidelines of the Boards of Education in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh respectively, news agency PTI reported.

(with inputs from agencies)