BHUBANESWAR: Months after announcing introduction of annual examination for students of Class V and VIII for promotion to the next grade from this year, the School and Mass Education (SME) department has issued a directive for conduct of the exam in the first week of March.

Issuing a directive in this regard, the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) asked the directorate of elementary education to ensure confidentiality of the question papers.

“Stringent action will be taken against those found involved in violating the norms prescribed under the Odisha Conduct of Examinations Act - 1988,” the OSEPA stated.

As per the guidelines of the SME department, the total mark for the exam will be 50 for both Class V and VIII. Sixty per cent questions will be subjective and 40 per cent objective.

Students failing to secure 30 per cent marks in aggregate will undergo remediation programme for four to six weeks and appear the supplementary exam, planned in the third week of April.

Students who do not meet the promotion criteria even after re-examination will be held back in the same class.

The practice of detaining students in a class had been stopped in the state after the Right to Education (RTE) Act was passed in 2009.

However, the annual exam system has been reintroduced from this year in line with the recommendation of the NEP 2020.