PANAJI
After dithering for nearly a month, the Goa government finally announced on Sunday that the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Examination conducted by the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBS&HSE) for Class X students this year has been cancelled.
Making the announcement, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who also holds the education portfolio, said that the GBS&HSE is yet to take a final decision on the HSSC examination for class XII students, and added the final call on it will be taken by Wednesday.
The decision to cancel the SSC examination was taken after consultations the Board and top officials of the Education department had with stakeholders including school managements and the teaching community, he said.
The class X students will be evaluated by the Board on the basis of marks obtained in internal exams held through the year, for the purpose of promotion to Class XI.
In the case of students wanting to opt for the science stream or get admission to technical diploma courses, the board will hold a one-day competitive test for them around the end of July, the chief minister said.
Sawant said at least a 15-day notice will be given to the students before this competitive test is held.
Those failing in one or two subjects can appear for ATKT (Allowed To Keep Terms) examination.
The Board will also hold a physical examination for the nearly 350 students who were registered as "private students" (those who study in night schools or schools for drop outs) for the SSC examination as they have not had any internal tests for evaluation.
These students will have to undergo a one-day or three-day exam, the dates of which would be announced later.
The class X and XII examinations are crucial milestones in a child's academic career and are conducted by the autonomous GBS&HSE.
These crucial public exams had earlier been scheduled in April-May but were indefinitely postponed following the surge in new Covid-19 cases since mid-April.
Education Boards of other States and also Central Boards including ICSE and CBSE had announced cancellation of these exams and opting for an alternative module to evaluate the students.
The GBS&HSE, however, dithered and refrained from taking such a decision but eventually followed suit now.
