The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education on Tuesday said all the relaxations offered to students during the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams this year would stand withdrawn from the February-March 2023 exams.
The state board secretary, Anuradha Oak, said, “The concessions were given based on the situation at that point in time. Now, things are absolutely normal and a notification regarding the 100% syllabus to be covered for the exam was issued much earlier so that students could prepare for the same. The concessions regarding the timing and exam centres would also be withdrawn and the board examinations would be held as per the traditional practices.”
Oak said the concessions given to special children depending on the category of disability would remain the same, though. They would continue to get benefit of those concessions, the state board secretary said.
The state board had introduced several relaxations for students after the Covid-19 pandemic hit the education system. Students were given extra time to write the board exams. The state board had extended the exam time by 30 minutes above the normal duration this year because students had lost the habit of writing and the pace of writing had decreased. The centres were closer to students’ home and the syllabus was reduced, among others.
The state spokesperson of the Principals’ Association, Mahendra Ganpule, said, “The state board clarified during a recent meeting about the withdrawal of concessions, and rightly so. Those changes were situational. Students would now have to adopt to the regular course of examination and prepare accordingly.”
The state board conducted the SSC and HSC board exams in February-March this year with several relaxations, considering the loss the students suffered because of the pandemic. The students had to take online classes in the initial part of the academic year. The board examinees could write the papers in their own schools for their convenience because the administration had imposed general restrictions across the state.
