As many as 3.2 lakh students will appear for the Plus One improvement examinations beginning Monday. Arrangements for the examinations are complete, a statement from the office of the Minister for General Education on Sunday said. A total of 2.98 lakh students in the regular category, 21,644 in private, and 11 students in the lateral entry regular category will sit for the examinations in 1,955 examination centres across the State. Forty-one students will take the examination in the Gulf region, 1,023 in Lakshadweep, and 414 students in Mahe.
The maximum number of students will appear for the examinations in English – 2.08 lakh. The examinations will be held at 9.30 a.m. and 2 p.m. over five days. Special arrangements have been made for students with COVID-19 to sit for the examinations.
Teachers’ demand
Teachers’ organisations had called for the postponement of the examinations being held amid the third wave of the pandemic. They said that conducting the examinations when the COVID-19 casegraph was rising was a challenge to public health, especially as many students and teachers were infected. It was not clear what would happen to students who were ill and would not be able to take the examination. Teachers on exam duty would also be required to be on invigilation for two examinations a day, that is six hours, they said.
The Minister, in the statement, criticised the teachers for opposing the ‘focus area’ decided by the government for the SSLC and the Plus Two examinations, stating that teachers’ primary job was to teach students. Other officials under the department too had been given responsibilities. The government wanted everyone to discharge their own responsibilities, not for everyone together to do one job.
The Minister’s statement drew flak from teachers’ organisations. The Aided Higher Secondary Teachers’ Association said trying to prevent teachers from airing their views was anti-democratic. The decision on focus area was taken without any discussion with teachers’ fora. The association would stage protests and resort to legal measures against this.
