PUNE: Over 16 lakh students registered for Secondary School Certificate exam (SSC) will appear for their first exam on Tuesday across the state in the offline mode after a Covid -induced gap.
Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education will conduct the exam in about 21,000 centres across the state, which is almost twice the number of centres available to batches before.
The increased number of exam centres are a result of the board's decision to ensure students do not have to travel far to appear for the exam, especially during the pandemic. The exam will be conducted for 60 subjects in eight mediums.
Of the 16,39,172 students registered, 8,89,584 are boys and 7,49,478 are girls. Students from 22,911 schools have registered for the examination out of which 21,384 schools have been turned into examination centres by the board. The last examination for SSC will be held on April 4.
Applications from students were accepted by the board till March 14, without any late fee, so that no student is denied the opportunity to appear for the exam. Looking at the lack of writing practice among students due to online classes, they will be given 30 minutes extra time for a 70-100 marks exam while 15 minutes extra for a 40-60 marks exam.
"Flying squads have been constituted to check malpractices and divisional commissioner, collector along with officials of the board can visit any centre to check for malpractices, during the exam. Students need to be at the exam centre at least one and a half hours before the exam and they will be given a question paper 10 minutes in advance," board chairman Sharad Gosavi said.
