Amid the pandemic situation forcing different boards to cancel or postpone class 10 and 12 examinations, Visva-Bharati University on Thursday announced that the pre-degree exams of its two schools Patha Bhavana and Siksha Satra will be held online from July 5, a notification said.

The notification was issued at a time when the West Bengal School Education Department is yet to come up with an alternative evaluation method for the Madhyamik and Uchchya Madhyamik examination candidates as the exams have already been cancelled.

In a meeting chaired by the vice-chancellor on June 8 and attended by directors, principals, proctors, dean of students’ welfare and other officials connected with the exams or evaluation process, it was decided that the pre-degree examination of Patha Bhavana and Siksha Satra will commence online from July 5, the notification said.

The viva-voce exams will be held online and will be followed by school certificate examinations, the notice said. The central varsity said the schedule and other modalities of the exams will be notified later.

The two exams are equivalent to the final board tests of classes 10 and 12 for the Visva-Bharati students. Visva-Bharati offers pre-degree (10+2) courses in science and humanities through the two schools under the university.

While external residential students get admission to Patha Bhavana, external day scholars go to Siksha Satra. However, unlike lakhs of candidates appearing for Madhyamik and Uchchya Madhyamik exams, the number of students in the two Visva-Bharati schools will not be more than 200, a university official said, adding hence holding the tests online won’t pose much of a problem.