COVID-19: Students from classes 1 to 8 in Maharashtra to be promoted without exams

Amid the COVID-19 surge, students from Class 1 to Class 8 in Maharashtra will be promoted to the next class without any examination, state School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad announced on Saturday.

However, the decision regarding students of classes 9 and 11 will soon be taken.

"In view of the ongoing situation due to Covid 19, all state board students across Maharashtra state from Class 1st to Class 8th will be promoted to the next class without any examinations. A decision regarding students of class 9th and 11th will soon be taken," the minister tweeted.

The announcement comes a day after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that stricter rules will be imposed in the state over the weekend following a massive increase in daily cases of the coronavirus disease.

Maharashtra reported 49,447 new COVID cases and 277 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, 37,821 people have recovered from the diseases in the last 24 hours taking the total number of recoveries in the state to 24,95,315. The active number of COVID cases in the state stands at 4,01,172.

( With inputs from ANI )