No Exam For Remaining Subjects Of Class 10, Class 12 Exam In June: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that no examination of the remaining subjects of Class 10, the examination for which was put on hold due to coronavirus outbreak, will be conducted by the MP Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE). Merit lists will be prepared on the basis of the marks obtained in the subjects for which the examination was conducted.
The remaining papers of class 12 will be held from June 8 to June 16, the CM has said on Saturday.
On private schools charging fees, he said these schools can charge only tuition fee during the lockdown period. Private schools have been closed due to the lockdown in the state since March 19, so they will not be able to charge any fee other than the tuition fee, Mr Chouhan said.
Tuition fee can be charged so that the schools can run without any financial problem, he said. But they won't be able to recover library, bus, sports and any other fees.
However, the schools will decide on charging of fees after lockdown ends, the Chief Minister added.
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CBSE Yet To Make A Decision On Promotion Of School Students
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has postponed the remaining class 12 and class 10 but there has been no word about class 1 to 9 and class 11 students. Meanwhile, several state boards, in various degrees, have announced that students, other than class 10 and 12 students, will be promoted to the next class without any exam.
CBSE spokesperson, Ms. Rama Sharma, upon enquiry, said that the board only conducts class 10 and class 12 examinations and is not responsible for examination and promotion to other classes. She added that the decision will be taken after Directorate of Education's (DoE) decision.
Meanwhile, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan have announced that students from class 1 to 8 will be promoted to the next class irrespective of whether they appeared for the final exam or not.
Gujarat Board has also announced that students from class 1 to 8 and class 11 will be promoted to the next class without exam.
Tamil Nadu government has also decided to promote all students in class 1 to 9.
Meanwhile, MHRD has asked CBSE and NTA to work out the new dates for board exams that were postponed and for JEE exam which was to be held in April but has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day complete lockdown of the country on the evening of March 24. Only essential services will remain open.
Punjab budget: Free education till class 12, retirement age cut to 58
Reducing government employees' retirement age from 60 to 58, free education for all students up to Class 12 and a debt waiver for landless farmers were some of the major announcements made by Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal in the 2020-21 budget on Friday. Badal on Friday presented a Rs 1,54,805 crore budget in the state Assembly here. Deciding against levying any fresh taxes, Badal also announced a waiver of Change of Land Use (CLU) charges for two years for new industries coming up outside municipal limits and slashed 'mandi' fee on vegetables from 4 to 1%.
The budget earmarked Rs 100 crore for giving 10 lakh free smartphones to the youth, which was one of the main poll promises of the ruling Congress. The delivery of smartphones, however, has been halted due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, Badal said in his fourth budget speech. Asserting that the state's finances were "back on track", Badal said the state has reached the point where there is no funding gap in 2020-21 because of the government's sustained efforts to bringing in fiscal prudence.
In a major announcement, Badal said the retirement age of government employees has been reduced from 60 to 58. "With this, we will be able to provide employment to three to four times the number of people who retire. We will also be able to get more talented pool of young people to serve Punjab," he later told reporters. He said the number of employees who are going to be affected by this move was yet to be worked out and that the decision will be implemented in two phases.
"Those who have turned 59 will retire on March 31 this year and those who are 58 will retire from September 30," he added. Currently, 3.50 lakh government employees are working in the state departments and the attrition rate is 5 to 9%. When asked about the financial implications, Badal said he was expecting that the financial outgo on account of reducing the retirement age would be Rs 3,500 crore. Allocating Rs 12,488 crore for promotion of schools and higher education, the minister announced free education for all students in government schools up to Class 12. Currently, education is free for all students up to Class 8 and it is free up to Class 12 only for girls.
Free transportation facility for primary schools students will also be provided and for this Rs 10 crore has been allocated, Badal said. He also announced to earmark Rs 4,000 crore in the budget for the 6th Pay Commission which is expected to submit recommendations in the near future. He further announced payment of 6% Dearness Allowance arrears to employees next month which would involve financial outgo of Rs 1,000 crore. The government employees have been seeking release of their pending DA.
Badal also announced allocation of Rs 2,000 crore including Rs 520 crore especially for waiving loans of landless farm workers under its flagship programme of crop loan waiver scheme. The government has already waived crop loans of all small and marginal farmers (up to 5 acres) who have loans of up to Rs 2 lakh. Later, Badal also said the compensation to families of farmers who committed suicide would be ensured within 60 days. The allocation for free power subsidy for farmers has been kept at Rs 8,275 crore for 2020-21, he said.
In another important announcement, the minister said under the new assessment policy of the excise and taxation department, the number of pending and old VAT assessment cases would come down from 1.24 lakh to about 30,000. In the budget, Badal proposed revenue receipts of Rs 88,004 crore and revenue expenditure of Rs 95,716 crore for 2020-21. He further said the revenue deficit for 2020-21 will be Rs 7,712 crore (1.20% of GSDP) and the fiscal deficit will be Rs 18,828 crore (2.92% of GSDP). He also projected outstanding debt of Rs 2,48,236 crore for 2020-21 as against 2019-20 revised estimates of Rs 2,28,906 crore.
While Chief Minister Amarinder Singh lauded the budget, the Opposition dubbed it "visionless and directionless". "With his futuristic budget projections, the finance minister laid down a progressive roadmap that will chart the way for the state's holistic growth and development, with all sections of the society set to be benefitted," said Amarinder Singh in a statement here. BJP national secretary Tarun Chugh said the budget is "nothing but a document of deceit" and a "U-turn" on the promises made by the Congress party ahead of 2017 assembly elections. Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia described the budget as a "fraud" on the people of Punjab.
In a statement here, he said figures had been "fudged" to paint a rosy picture even as Punjab was suffering due to "inefficiency and mismanagement" of the state's finances by Badal. Badal also proposed capital expenditure of Rs 10,280 crore. He said the state would get higher share from the central taxes as has been proposed by the 15th Finance Commission. He said the state government proposes to set up two agriculture colleges at Gurdaspur and Balachaur.
CBSE Postpones Tomorrow's Exam For 80 Centres In North East Delhi
Taking cognizance of the situation in Delhi, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to postpone the board exams scheduled tomorrow for exam centres located in North East part of Delhi. The Board had scheduled exam for English paper, both core and elective, tomorrow.
For February 27, the board has postponed exam for 80 exam centres. CBSE has not scheduled any exam for class 10 tomorrow. Students can check the list of exam centres where the exam has been postponed from the CBSE website, or CBSE's social media handles.
The board had, earlier, postponed exams that were scheduled today, i.e. on February 26 as well. The board had notified later in the day yesterday that exams for 86 exam centres will be held at a later date. The decision by the Board came after the Delhi High Court asked the CBSE to decide at the earliest on rescheduling Wednesday's board exam at one of the centres in the north-east Delhi where violence related to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act has cost life and property.
On February 26, the board had scheduled exam for English paper for class 10 students and for Web Application, and Media papers for class 12 students. The new dates for these papers will be announced by the board later.
OBC Reservation In KV, JNV Under Government's Consideration: Education Minister
The proposal to introduce 27% reservation for OBC students in all Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country is under active consideration of the government.
This information was shared by Union Human Resources Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' in the Lok Sabha while replying to questions on if government has plans to adopt 27% reservation for OBCs in KVs and JNVs.
The question was asked by Adoor Prakash, TR Paarivendhar, A. Ganeshamurthi and AKP Chinraj.
The HRD Ministry had decided in December 2019 to extend reservation benefits to other backward classes (OBC) in KVs and JNVs from the academic session 2020-2021.
"In view of the comments of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the specific views of Ministry of Law and Justice regarding the applicability of provisions of CEI Act, 2006 to KVs and JNVs in so far as it relates to grant of reservation to OBC students for admission in these Vidyalayas, the ministry has approved the extension of the benefits of reservation to OBC students for admissions in JNVs and KVs," news agency ANI had quoted HRD Ministry sources as saying.
To questions asked in the Lok Sabha on how many seats will be available under this reservation scheme and how many students will be benefited from this facility, the HRD Minister gave an overarching answer that the matter is under active consideration of the government.