The Intermediate I year exams kicked off in Telangana on October 25 and despite resistance on various grounds from students and parent associations, the first day saw a healthy attendance of 93.5 per cent. The Board of Intermediate Education, Telangana, had its task cut out to ensure that proper COVID-safety protocols were followed, as students and parents breathed down their necks. Syed Omer Jaleel, Secretary, BIE, told Edexlive that all of the 1,768 exam centres in the state will be thoroughly sanitised daily, and thorough screening of the candidates will be ensured. 

Apart from masks, all staff on duty is inoculated with both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. There will also be two isolation rooms at every centre for any sick students, and an ANM with first-aid, the secretary said, assuring that there was no breach of protocol at the centres. "The students were enthusiastic about writing the exam, and that is evident from the good attendance on the first day itself," he said. 

Countering claims from protesting parents that these exams will hamper preparations for the intermediate II year exams, Jaleel claimed that the BIE had arranged for telecast of lectures from July 1, and regular classes have been going on since September 1. And since the second year exams are five months away, it should have an effect, he said.  

Around 4.59 lakh students have registered for the exams which are scheduled to end on November 3.