Bengaluru: Putting to rest all speculations, the State Government on Tuesday decided to promote children of class 1 to 9 studying in State Board schools without the customary annual examination in view of the worsening COVID-19 situation.

The decision was taken at a high level meeting chaired by Primary and Secondary Education Minister S.Suresh Kumar  and attended by Department officials in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

The promotion will be based on Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), which was conducted through online and physical mode as well as Vidyagama programme.

Speaking to presspersons after the meeting, Suresh Kumar said schools must conduct the assessment based on CCE and announce results by Apr.30.

Asserting that there will be no change in the SSLC exam which is scheduled to take place from June 21 to July 5, the Minister also announced that State Board schools will remain closed for summer vacation from May 1 to June 14 for classes 1 to 8. For classes 8 and 9, the vacation will be from May 1 to July 15, he added.