Chief minister Mamata Banerjee cancelled Class X and XII state board examinations for the academic year 2020-2021, going by public opinion largely in favour of not holding the exams amid the Covid pandemic.

“Thank you very much for sending us your valuable opinions and suggestions. GoWB arrives at the decision of cancelling Madhyamik/Uchchamadhyamik examination for 2021. We will work out the best possible way to secure the future of our children,” Mamata tweeted on Monday.

At Nabanna, the state administrative headquarters, Mamata said the state education department had received around 34,000 emails since Sunday till the deadline of 2pm, Monday.

“Around 79 per cent of students and their parents are against holding Madhyamik. In the case of higher secondary, 83 per cent are not in favour. That is why we have decided not to hold the exams this year,” she said, adding that the evaluation process "will be decided in seven days.,

This is the second consecutive year of academic disruption with schools and colleges remaining shut. In 2020, by the time the national lockdown was announced, Madhyamik exams had been concluded, though most of the main subjects in higher secondary were pending. The higher secondary board had then drawn up a method to award the average highest scores to subjects in which the exams could not be held.

On Sunday, the state government had released three email addresses in the public domain and asked people to submit their opinion on whether to go ahead with the examination process or not.

Under the second wave of the Covid pandemic, the state government had closed all educational institutions and activities. On June 15, the state government will take a call on whether to continue with the restrictions imposed or ease certain restrictions.

It is unlikely that the government would agree to let schools and colleges open without the transport system back in place.

An expert committee set up by the state government had also recommended against conducting the exams, as many school buildings in the state have been converted into safe houses for Covid-19 patients.

The expert committee has suggest that evaluation be carried out giving 70 per cent importance to Class IX performance and 30 per cent to class X performance. Mamata had told officials to prioritise Class IX vs Class X syllabus carefully for internal evaluation, since the syllabi of the two classes were quite different. Now, the education department will finalise the method whihc will announced within the next seven days.

Mamata has asked for the evaluation process to be carried out as quickly as possible so that students do not face any problems with competitive and entrance exams necessary to continue their higher education.