Kerala to move in accordance with SC order over stay on Class XI offline exams amid COVID

Kerala’s Education Minister V Sivankutty said on Friday that the government will move further in accordance with Supreme Court's final order regarding the state board’s exams for the students studying in Class XI. The Supreme Court stayed the Kerala government's decision to hold offline exams for Class XI from September 6. The bench cited the exposure of young students to the virus amid rising cases as the main reason.

Sivankutty said while talking to the media, "We successfully conducted SSLC and higher secondary exams with over 42,000. For class 11th, around 4.5 lakh students will appear. Based on this experience, we had decided to conduct Class XI exams. We will move further in accordance with Supreme Court's final order." He further said, "The Supreme Court has sought a detailed report on the preparation to conduct the +1 (class XI) examination and on what grounds has the decision been taken. We will submit the report before September 13."

A bench chaired by Justice AM Khanwilkar said that situation in Kerala is alarming and is not ideal at all to conduct physical exams. The continuing rise in COVID-19 cases will put children of tender age at unnecessary risk as around 35,000 cases are being reported on a daily basis from the state.

The Bench said in a statement, "There is an alarming situation in Kerala. It accounts for more than 70% of cases of the country, with around 35,000 daily cases. Children of tender age can't be exposed to risk." The Supreme Court responded to the plea filed by the students of Kerala against Kerala government’s decision to conduct offline exams for Class XI. The students appealed that the decision was to conduct offline exams was too risky and was taken without considering the seriousness of the COVID-19 situation in the state.

The current COVID-19 situation in Kerala

Kerala registered less than 30,000 COVID-19 cases on Friday as the state registered 29,33 new cases. The positivity dipped from 18.41 TPR to 17.91% TPR. Another 131 people succumbed to the virus, while 22,938 people completed their recovery. According to Kerala's official COVID-19 bulletin, the state has vaccinated 60% of the adult population with at least one dose and 37% of the population have been fully vaccinated. 

(With ANI inputs)