The Karnataka government on Sunday announced that the SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) or Class 10 and ongoing Pre-University or PU-II exams have been postponed until further notice in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The revised dates of the examinations will be declared at a later time.
A spokesperson of the Education Department said that this decision has been taken after consulting with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.
It is to be noted, that only the last exam for PU-II examinations were left to be held on Monday.
In a video message released on Sunday evening, S Suresh Kumar confirmed in wake of the revised lockdown orders issued earlier on the day by the Home Minister, both the SSCL and PU-II exams stand postponed.
This decision by the Education Ministry comes after the Education Minister S Suresh Kumar had already postponed the examinations for students in Classes 7, 8 and 9 in the state till March 31 on March 15.
At the time, the minister had said that the interim period should be used by students as study leave.
Currently, all schools and colleges are already closed as part of the statewide partial lockdown effective till March 31.
The lockdown ordered by the CM means that all malls, theatres, pubs and exhibitions across the state will remain closed to avoid gatherings till March 31. Further, other forms of public and private functions have been restricted.
All conferences and cultural, sporting events have been ordered to be postponed until further orders.
Further, on Friday, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan said that all employees in the Information Technology (IT) and Biotechnology companies will work from home, with exception to those discharging mission-critical and essential services. The government issued a strict guideline to that effect.
The police department has been ordered to give fresh permission for events only after consulting the health department.
As of Sunday morning, Karnataka has 20 positive cases of COVID-19, including the death of a 76-year-old man in Kalaburagi.
In addition to the lockdown in the state, Bengaluru city police have said that it will strictly enforce the 14-hour Janata curfew called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi between 7 am and 9 pm on Sunday.
