Amid the spiralling second wave of COVID-19, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Wednesday, insisted that the state will conduct Class 10 and Intermediate (class 12) board exams this year. He said that the government is conducting Board examinations to ensure that students have a better future and assured them that he has every student's future in mind while taking this decision.
The CM said that the states not conducting exams are only issuing pass certificates to the students. He wondered how students will get admission into good institutions only on the basis of a pass certificate.
Pointing out that the Union government has left it to the state governments to decide whether or not to conduct tests in the current scenario, Jagan noted that examinations are underway in some states following strict measures, a statement issued by the government said.
"SSC and Inter examinations are very important to the students as their future depends on those certificates. The state government will ensure safety of every student in the state," the Chief Minister was quoted in the statement.
The Chief Minister's unequivocal stand comes in the face of a strident campaign by the opposition, especially the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), demanding cancellation of the public exams in view of the pandemic. TDP leader Nara Lokesh has been strongly objecting to the Chief Minister’s decision to conduct the exams. He felt that the CM is talking about the future of the students at a time when their lives were coming under threat at the examination centres. He said that it was unfortunate that the government was adamant without realising that the ordinary public were dropping dead on account of the deadly epidemic infections.
The Chief Minister attacked the opposition for their criticism and said that trying to degrade the government even in the times of disaster, was not good.