The Odisha government on Wednesday announced the cancellation of the Class X state board examination and postponement of the Class XII exam.

The announcement came following a protest rally by Class X students near Naveen Niwas, the residence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, on Tuesday demanding cancellation of their examination amid the surge in coronavirus cases.

Minister for school and mass education Samir Ranjan Dash said: “In view of the rise in corona(virus) cases, the Class X examination to be conducted by the Board of Secondary Examination from May 3 stands cancelled. The results of the Class X board exam will be prepared on the basis of an objective criterion to be developed by the BSE.”

Dash, however, did not spell out the detailed mechanism for deciding the results of the Class X examination. He said students who are unhappy with the marks awarded to them could get an opportunity to sit for the examination once the conditions improve.

The state government in a media release said the Class XII examination conducted by the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), scheduled to be held from May 18, has been postponed. The examination will be held once the situation improves. The state government will take a call on the examination in the first week of June. The students will be given 15 days time to prepare for the exam.

All the students of Classes IX and XI will be promoted to the next class without appearing for any kind of examination, the notification said.

Odisha on Wednesday reported 4,851 fresh Covid-19 cases, with Khurda district registering the highest 703 cases. The deaths due to Covid-19 touched 1,958 with another five fatalities reported in the last 24 hours.

“The second wave is likely to reach its peak either in the last week of April or in the first week of May,” said C.B.K. Mohanty, chief of the Directorate of Medical Education and Training.

The administration of Ganjam, the home district of Naveen, has launched a door-to-door health screening drive. The district administration also shut down religious places for devotees till May 15. It has prohibited the entry of visitors in parks, sea beaches and such other places of mass congregation. On the other hand, the Puri Shree Jagannath Temple administration has decided to vaccinate all the servitors aged above 18 years.

The chief minister has directed the district administrations to prepare a mechanism for the return of migrant workers from other states and follow the protocols. “The quarantine norm and testing should be ensured for all the returnees from other states,” Naveen said.

He added that the number of medical facilities, including the number of beds with oxygen facilities, should be increased.