BENGALURU: Officials on Saturday began preparations for the SSLC exams scheduled for July 19 and 22. This is the second year that they are being held amid the pandemic. More than 8.4 lakh students are expected to appear for the papers across the state, and nearly 1.2 lakh school staffers and officials will be on examination duty.
Primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar said that all those on duty had been vaccinated. “At all levels, only vaccinated officials and staff have been roped in for the work,” he added. Kumar shared details about the arrangements with the media during visits to government schools and exam centres in the city and Doddaballapur.
Instead of a week-long calendar, the SSLC exams are being conducted in a multiple-choice question (MCQ) format over two days this time. The first paper will be on core subjects such as science, mathematics and social science, and the second will be on languages. Each subject will carry 40 marks, with the total being 120.
Drills were held at many schools in the state on Saturday. School staffers, officials, health teams and volunteers from Scouts and Guides demonstrated how things would proceed. “The preparations are even better than what we did last year,” said Kumar, who visited centres in Malleswaram, Sadashivanagar, Dasarahalli and Peenya, among other places.
He explained that all exam centres would be sanitised before and after the papers. The number of centres has been doubled to 6,000, while rooms have increased by three times. Only 12 students — one per bench — will be seated in each room. There will be special rooms for candidates with symptoms like cough, cold and fever.
Each centre will have a health check-up counter and everyone will be screened there. The counters are equipped with thermal scanners, pulse oximeters, first aid kits and masks. An emergency treatment vehicle will be deployed in every taluk. “The examination staff members have been directed to maintain social distance at all times. They can also wear face shields if required,” the minister said.
There are Covid care centres in every taluk, where students who have tested positive for Covid-19 can appear for the papers. Even students whose family members have tested positive or are isolated can take the exam there.
Kumar said that 14,929 high schools had registered their students for the SSLC exams and their headmasters had already downloaded the hall tickets. “Students who have faced any difficulty can contact their DDPIs or BEOs to get the matter sorted. A district nodal officer has been appointed for this purpose,” he said.
