Manipur Education Minister Sorokhaibam Rajen Singh on Monday announced that the examinations for classes X and XII, which were due to be held in May, have been postponed until further orders due to the Covid surge in the state. The decision came a day after a review meeting of the State Consultative Committee for Covid-19 chaired by Chief Minister N Biren Singh. Exams for Class X and XII are due to be held on May 5 and May 6 respectively. The minister said that the state has also decided to suspend physical classes for students of standards IX to XII across all educational institutions from April 20 onwards. Moreover, hostels and boarding facilities, as well as private hostels, will also remain closed until further orders, he added. “The state resolved to take the decision in view of the ongoing second wave of the pandemic and ever-increasing number of Covid cases,” the minister added. He said all classes will be held online now. Any educational institution that violates this order and holds physical classes will attract punitive measures, warned the minister. He appealed to the school authorities and guardians to cooperate with the decision of the government. New schedule of exams will be announced soon, he said. The consultative meeting held on Sunday also resolved to extend the timing of the night curfew from 7 pm to 5 am against the earlier order which stated restrictions will be in place from 8 pm to 4 am. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s Office also issued an advisory to cabinet ministers, legislators and government functionaries, asking them to refrain from organizing and participating in functions or public gatherings. On Monday, the state reported one Covid death and 54 new positive. A total of 967 test results were received on Monday. With this, the cumulative caseload in the state has risen to 29,775. As per the Covid update by the state health department, the state had on Sunday recorded 72 new Covid- positive cases, a jump from Saturday's figure of 39. Out of the 54 new positive cases on Monday, Imphal East reported the highest number of daily new cases (24), while Imphal West witnessed 22 cases. Among the remaining cases, five were from Thoubal and there was one each from Churachandpur, Kakching and Kangpokpi. The Covid-induced death toll in the state has now risen to 377.
