UAE pupils face delays as Indian board postpones ICSE exams

Decision affects only a small number of pupils in the country

Indian pupils wearing protective masks in a classroom in Mumbai. AFP

UAE pupils face delays after an Indian educational board postponed key exams.

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations on Friday said exams for Grade 10 and Grade 12 are being deferred.

The exams had been scheduled to run in May but surging Covid-19 case numbers in India made staging them impossible, it said.

A final decision on whether they can be held will be taken by the first week of June.

Only a handful of schools follow this curriculum in the UAE with the majority following the CBSE.

On Wednesday it was announced that the thousands of Indian curriculum pupils in the UAE following the CBSE will not sit summer exams this year.

The decision by officials in New Delhi affects all Grade 10 pupils studying this curriculum.

Grade 12 pupils also had their exams postponed for the second time this year owing to the pandemic.

The CBSE exams are conducted in grades 10 and 12, and are the Indian equivalent of GCSEs and A levels.

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