Bengaluru: The Secondary School Leaving Certification examination or the 10th standard exam will take place on July 19-22 where multi-choice objective type questions will be asked, Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar said on Monday. “This time the SSLC exam, conducted by the state board, will be held in two days. The core subject exam such as mathematics, Social Science and Science will be held on July 19 and language subject exam will take place on July 22. Both the exams will take place from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm,” the minister told reporters.
He also said that all the exams will have objective type multiple choice questions, which will be easy. A sample paper has been uploaded on the website. Also, it will be sent to the schools to tell students how to write it. Kumar said the SSLC exams are necessary for students to select their stream.
According to him, last year 8.46 lakh students had appeared for the exam but this year 8,76,581 students will write it.
There will be 73,066 exam halls this time, he added. Kumar said the Standard Operating Procedure issued by the Health department has been sent to the deputy commissioners, chief executive officers, senior police officers and treasury officers to hold the exam. To protect the sanctity of the exam, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC will be in place around 200 metres from the exam hall, the minister said.
He said every child will be given an opportunity to appear for the exam. Even the students who have migrated should also be able to write the exam at their nearest centre. This opportunity will be used by 10,000 students. Kumar told reporters that on June 29 the soft copies of hall tickets will be sent to all the school authorities, which they can download.
Arrangements have been made for students in the border regions of the state in Kerala and Maharashtra. A child with COVID like symptoms will be asked to write in a separate exam hall whereas a COVID positive student can write exam from a COVID care centre, the minister said, adding all the teachers, officers and staff involved in the exam will be vaccinated compulsorily.
All those 18 plus will be vaccinated, at least one dose should be given within a week.
Regarding masks, he said students will be allowed to wear surgical or good cloth masks as the Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19 had said that N-95 masks were not necessary. However, all the invigilators will be given N-95 masks. There will be compulsory health check-up at all the exam centres where students will be sanitised and undergo thermal screening.
There will be 12 students in each hall, which means one student in each desk. This time also, thousands of scouts and guides volunteers will be roped in to ensure a smooth exam by giving masks. Apart from them, there will be paramedics and ASHA workers at all the centres, the minister said. He asked the invigilators and the school management to be present at 8 AM so that students should not roam around if they come well before the exam.
In case, the teachers and invigilators have COVID signs they should not attend the exam and will be sent back, Kumar said. If a child fails to appear in the exam, he/she can again appear as freshers, Kumar said. Regarding the second Pre-University Exam results, he said they will be out by July second week.
He assured students to conduct exams if they are not happy with the results. On the occasion, he also said he would be releasing a teacher-friendly transfer policy. To a question on the reopening of schools, he said a Task Force will be set up to suggest how to reopen schools and impart education to students. The task force will have subject experts, members of the Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19 and child specialists. The names of the members of the task force will be released shortly.
At the same time, the government will be airing online classes through Doordarshan Chandana, which will also be uploaded on Deeksha portal for anyone who missed live streaming of the class.
