PANAJI
The public examination for class X (SSC) and class XII (HSSC) conducted by the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBS&HSE) has been indefinitely postponed and likely to be rescheduled.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who also holds the education portfolio, made the announcement where he said the students taking the exams will be given at least 15-day notice when the examinations will be rescheduled.
The HSSC examinations were scheduled to begin on Saturday, April 24, while the SSC examination was to begin from May 13, according to the original schedule announced by the GBS&HSE.
For the last few days, students and Opposition parties had been raising the demand to cancel the GBS&HSE schedule of the examinations.
On Monday, dozens of students were detained by police when they marched to the CM’s official Altinho residence in support of their demand to postpone the exams, citing the alarming Covid situation in the State.
Around 19,000-odd students are registered and qualify to write the HSSC examination while over 24,000 students are registered to write the SSC exam.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) State convenor, Rahul Mhambre, have supported the students’ demand to reschedule the exam, expressing concern over the risk to the students’ lives.
On Wednesday, Mhambre welcomed the decision to defer the exams.
