Ending the long-drawn uncertainty over the Secondary Education Examination, the government on Wednesday decided to cancel the test for this year and issue certificates based on the internal evaluation conducted by respective schools.

The Cabinet meeting took the decision after concluding that the tests cannot be held this year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Conducting the test is not possible this year. Therefore, students will be promoted based on their internal performance,” Minister for Education Giriraj Mani Pokharel told the Post.

The National Examination Board will issue certificates based on internal evaluations carried out by respective schools. According to Pokharel, the board will develop a detailed modality to issue the certificates.

The Ministry of Education had started looking for an alternative for the test following the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s remarks that holding the Grade 10 finals was not possible.

Addressing the nation on May 25, Oli had said that the delay in the examination had created a dilemma among thousands of students and the Education Ministry hence would make necessary arrangements so that SEE students won’t lose their entire academic year.

Normally, the new academic session of Grade 11 starts in July and SEE results are published in June.

This year’s SEE was scheduled to start from March 19. But given the Covid-19 threat, the government postponed the exams. The government then imposed the lockdown starting March 24 to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The lockdown entered its 79th day on Wednesday.

As many as 482,219 students had registered themselves for the examination. Calls had grown lately to scrap SEE as there was uncertainty about the exam due to the lockdown.

The government on Wednesday decided to ease the lockdown from Thursday, allowing shops to open and private vehicles, including taxis, to operate. A detailed modality, however, is expected to be made public on Thursday.