Over 3,000 students appear for Goa Board's HSSC exam even as COVID-19 cases resurge

Panaji: Over 3,000 students on Wednesday appeared for the Goa Board's Class 12 Marathi examination which was earlier postponed after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Social distancing norms were followed while conducting the examination, the board's chairman Ramakrishna Samant said.

The students were asked to use hand sanitiser before entering the examination halls and wearing masks was compulsory for them, he said.

"Total 3,823 students were eligible for appearing in the Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) examination today," Samant said.

The examination was held hassle-free and almost all the students appeared for it, he said.

As per some pictures released by the state government, students maintained social distancing and wore masks in the examination halls.

The HSSC Marathi exam was earlier supposed to be held on March 20 but was postponed in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

Since the state was declared a green zone on May 1 after all the seven COVID-19 patients previously found recovered, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant earlier this month said the HSSC and SSC examinations would be held after the third phase of the lockdown ends on May 17.

The state board accordingly announced that HSSC examinations will be held from May 20 to May 22 (for two pending papers), while the SSC (Class 10) exams for all papers will be held from May 21 onwards.

However, since the last week, coronavirus cases were again detected in the state.

As of now, there are 41 active COVID-19 cases in the coastal state.