MSCE postpones Maharashtra Scholarship Test 2021 for Class 5, Class 8 due to COVID-19

The Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE) has deferred the Maharashtra Scholarship Test 2021 for Classes 5 and 8. The decision has been taken due to the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the state. Earlier, the exams were slated to be held on 23 May but now stand postponed until further notice. The council will announce the new exam dates in due course after analyzing the COVID-19 situation.The announcement was made by Maharashtra’s School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad on Twitter. Along with the tweet, he shared an official notification announcing the latest development. “In view of the increasing prevalence of corona, the pre-Higher Secondary Scholarship Examination (E-5V) and Pre-Secondary Scholarship Examination (E-8V) to be held on the same day in all the districts on 23rd May 2021 has been postponed immediately in view of the interest of the students,” the tweet reads.Here’s the detailed notification: https://www.mscepuppss.in/PDF/PRESSNOTE_10-05-2021.pdfAs per the notice, a total of 47,662 schools across the state have registered for the scholarship examination this year. Around 63, 2478 students are supposed to appear for the test. Out of these, 38, 8335 students will be from Class 5 while 24, 4143 will be from Class 8.In another tweet, the minister shared that currently, the safety and health of the students are the priority for the government. Hence, the decision has been taken.The registration process for all the scholarship exams closed on 10 April. The test will be held in eight languages namely English, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Gujarati, Sindhi, Telugu, and Kannada.Originally, the scholarship exams were scheduled to take place on 25 April, however, got pushed to 23 May due to the second wave of coronavirus.Currently, in Maharashtra, lockdown-like restrictions have been imposed till 15 May to control the spread of the deadly virus. Due to which, various other examinations including state board exams, NEET, and JEE have been deferred or cancelled.