CBSE Board Exam 2017: Class X and Class XII exams delayed due to assembly elections, to begin from March 9

In view of the upcoming assembly elections in five states, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) 2017 Class X and Class XII examination have been postponed. The CBSE Class X and Class XII examination will now begin from March 9, the board said in a statement.

The CBSE Class X and Class XII Board examinations are normally conducted in the first week of March each year, but have been delayed as the dates of the elections are clashing with the dates of the exams.

"The annual examinations of class X and XII will be conducted by CBSE from 9th March 2017, in view of the state assembly elections being conducted in five states of Punjab, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh," a statement released by the CBSE said.

A total of 16.67 lakh candidates from 16,354 schools across the country will appear for Class X exam, while around 10.98 lakh candidates from 10,677 schools will sit for the Class XII exams.

The CBSE said that the delay in examinations will provide more time to students for preparation.

"The board has given careful consideration to the situation before postponing the exams by a week which will now allow the students to get more time for the preparation and ensure uninterrupted sequence of examinations," it said.

"The board has made all possible efforts to maintain reasonable time gap between the major papers and also ensured that the students appearing for Joint Engineering Exam and upcoming National Eligibility cum Entrance Test complete the CBSE examinations ahead of these entrance exams," the CBSE said.

After the Election Commission recently announced the dates for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in February and March, the UP Board examinations were also postponed. The UP Board examinations will now be held after March 11.

The counting of votes will be held on March 11 for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Voting for 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven-phase election on February 11, 15, 19, 23 and 27 and March 4 and 8, Election Commission had announced.

The Uttar Pradesh Examination Board had earlier announced the dates between February 18 and March 21 for Class 10 and Class 12 examinations. Later, the Election Commission deferred the dates after summoning the secondary education department authorities along with the officials last month.

More than 60 lakh students will appear in the UP Board exams. About 34, 04,571 candidates have registered for Class 10 exams, while 26, 24,681 candidates have registered for Class 12 exams.