MUMBAI: With the state education board determined to hold Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) offline exams as per schedule in March-April, schools too are insisting on physical preliminary tests for students.
Schools had begun preparing students for physical exams in October. The January shutdown of schools amid rising infections put a question mark on the pen and paper exams. The state, however, clarified that SSC and HSC exams will be held in the physical mode.
Worried about students lagging behind in writing lengthy papers, schools want students to take practice tests in the physical mode. “The preliminary question papers are set. We were contemplating having an online exam. Students need practice if they have to write the offline boards. We have called students to school in batches next week for the preliminary exams,” said the principal of a school in Charni Road.
Schools are hoping to conduct atleast two practice tests before students take the SSC exams from March 15.
“The syllabus has been completed and students have been told to solve previous years question papers. The practice test will give us a sense where students rank. We plan to hold offline prelims in the last week of January,” said the principal of a Borivli school.
Preliminary exam papers are kept tough to help teachers know where students stand in the finals.
