The Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination that began across Karnataka on Monday were held smoothly without any major incidents.
Around 8.69 lakh students had enrolled for the exam that will be held till April 11. However, on the first day, 97.59% of those who had enrolled appeared for the language papers – English, Kannada, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi.
Several precautions were put in place. Students were subjected to thermal screening and they had to wear masks compulsorily.
B.C. Nagesh, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, visited the government high school at Agrahara Dasarahalli on Magadi Road and distributed roses to students appearing for the examination, wishing them luck. “The examination is being held in a full-fledged manner after two years. Many students came to the examination centres happily to appear for the examinations. Parents and teachers are also happy. The examination centres were provided with adequate police security and CCTV cameras,” he said.
A communique from the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) stated that nearly 21,000 students did not appear for the first examination. Special rooms were arranged for 336 students, who were unwell. None of the students who appeared for the examination had tested positive for COVID-19.
Mr. Nagesh said two preparatory examinations were conducted to prepare the students appearing for SSLC examination. Model question papers were also distributed to the students.
Vishnu Sair, an SSLC student from BNR Public School, Mallasandra, was confident of faring well in the examination. He said the preparatory examinations and offline classes had helped him prepare for the annual examination.
Many students who spoke to The Hindu said the language paper was easy. Few students, however, seemed stressed. “I was in Class VIII when the pandemic broke out. For two years, we had to get adjusted to online learning. I was worried about finishing the paper on time,” said Bindushree P., student of Silicon International Public School.
Parents seem to favour offline examinations. Yashodha, ASHA and mother of Varshitha, SSLC student from Sharada Vidyalaya, said: “Online classes did no good to our children. They used to stay glued to the mobile all the day. My daughter dealt with a lot of difficulty in understanding few concepts online. Offline classes came as a relief to us.”
When it stings
Chaos and tension prevailed for some time at Mary Immaculate Girls High School in Shivamogga as honey bees attacked a few parents who had visited the school to drop off their children for the SSLC examination.
A few parents suffered bee stings, even as the teaching staff ensured that students got inside classrooms. Parents and journalists, who were stung by bees, were later taken to Mc Gann Hospital for treatment.
Six fake candidates held
Officers on examination duty identified six fake candidates in the SSLC examination at a school in Chikkodi on Monday. The five boys and a girl were writing examination as proxies for other students at R.D. High School in Chikkodi.
The arrested persons were identified as Rahul Killiketar of Godageri, Bhimshi Hulkund of Konkaniwadi, Karthi Kumbar of Koppa, Siddu Jogi of Chikalakoppa, Mahantesh Dollinavar of Girisagar and Savita Hosur of Banahatti. The school authorities called the police and handed over the six youth to them.
Teacher relieved from examination duty
One teacher at a school in Manjunathnagar in Bengaluru was reportedly relieved from SSLC examination duty. There were conflicting reasons for the same, which were not confirmed by the office of the Commissioner of Public Instruction.
According to one version of the turn of events, the teacher in question was sporting the hijab herself, while as per another version, she was allowing students with the hijab to enter the examination centre.
It is said that the examination centre’s chief superintendent relieved the teacher from examination duty. Block Education Officer of Bengaluru North visited the school and ensured that no student was wearing the hijab.
Commissoner of Public Instruction R. Vishal told The Hindu that the incident did come to light and education officials were directed to ensure that the students appearing for the examination were not disturbed. “We will take stock of the situation,” he said.
