“The CISCE has advised the Heads of CISCE affiliated Schools to encourage the parents and guardians of their schools to get their wards in the age group of 15 —18 years vaccinated at the earliest,” signed by Gerry Arathoon, the notice issued on 22 April said that “The CISCE reiterates the above as being only an advisory to all affiliated schools. It is neither compulsory, mandatory nor a pre-condition for candidates appearing for the ICSE & ISC Year 2022 Semester 2 Examinations.”

Students are advised to keep an eye for an updated feed on the official website of CISCE – cisce.org.

The Indian School Certificate, ISC Class 12 semester 2 examination will begin on 26 April and continue till 13 June. The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) or Class 10 Semester 2 exam will commence on 25 April and continue till 23 May this year.

CISCE’s clarification comes days after state school education minister Varsha Gaikwad approached the board and a union education minister regarding a mandate by the board making vaccination compulsory for all those appearing exams.

See the notification here

CISCE released a circular which said that the earlier notice has been misinterpreted. They further said that parents of students who will write the exams are encouraged to vaccinate their children of 15 and 18 years age. However, vaccination is neither mandatory nor pre-condition for candidates.

Gaikwad has shared a copy of this circular on Twitter and thanked the board members for clarifying the same. “Hope this assuages the concerns of students and parents,” she wrote.

At present, vaccine certificates are not compulsory for attendance in higher education institutes in the state, as mentioned by the state minister for higher and technical education Uday Samant last month. No such clarification for schools has been released.

The ICSE, ISC Semester 2 exams will begin with the English paper on the first day. The Class 10 and Class 12 exams will be held for one hour and 30 minutes duration. While the Class 10 exams will be held from 10 am, the Class 12 semester 2 exams will be conducted from 2 pm.