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New Delhi, May 22 (PTI): The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) on Friday announced it will conduct pending class 10 and 12 exams, which were postponed due to the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown, from July 1 to 14.
It asked schools to ensure social distancing is followed and directed candidates to carry hand sanitisers and wear face masks.
"While the exams for Class 12 students will be held from July 2 to 12, Class 10 students will appear for exams from July 1 to 14. It will be mandatory for candidates to carry their sanitiser bottles and wear masks, while gloves will be optional," said Gerry Arathoon, CISCE chief executive and secretary.
"Candidates must reach the examination centre well ahead of time to ensure staggered movement and smooth entry to avoid overcrowding. They must maintain social distancing in their movement from the main school gate to the examination hall," he said.
"During entry to and exit from the examination hall, candidates are advised to do so in a staggered manner to maintain social distancing norms," he added.
Arathoon said candidates are also required to bring their own stationery or art material and avoid sharing with other candidates.
The schedule for Indian Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (ICSE), which is the Class 10 exam, has six papers -- Geography (July 2), Art (July 4), Elective Subject (July 6), Hindi (July 8), Biology (July 10) and Economics (July 12).
The elective subjects include Carnatic Music, Commercial Applications, Computer Applications, Cookery, Drama, Economic Applications, Environmental Applications, Fashion Designing, French, German, Hindustani Music, Home Science, Indian Dance, Mass Media and Communication, Physical Education, Spanish, Western Music and Yoga.
The schedule for Indian School Certificate Examination (ISC), which is the Class 12 exam, has 8 papers -- Biology (July 1), Business Studies (July 3), Geography (July 5), Psychology (July 7), Sociology (July 9), Home Science (July 11), Elective English (July 13) and Art and Craft (July 14).
Unlike the CBSE, which will only be conducting exams in 29 subjects crucial for promotion and admission to higher educational institutions, the CISCE will be conducting all pending exams.
The pending Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exams are scheduled from July 1 to 15.
Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16 when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as part of a slew of measures to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.
Later, the government announced a nationwide lockdown which began on March 25. The lockdown was initially imposed for a 21-day period till April 14. However, it has been extended thrice. The current phase of lockdown will last till May 31. The schedule for the board exams has been decided in order to ensure that they are completed before competitive examinations. While engineering entrance exam JEE-Mains is scheduled to be held from July 18 to 23, medical entrance exam NEET is scheduled for July 26.