Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Karnataka had postponed the SSLC exams which were supposed to happen April. Similarly, PUC-II's English exam was also postponed. However, on Monday, S S Suresh Kumar, the state's Primary and Secondary Education Minister had announced that the SSLC exams will be conducted from June 25 and will go on until July 4 and the pending PUC exam will be held on June 18.
He said, "After consulting senior health and education experts, we have decided to occupy fewer students in each class to maintain physical distancing. Hence, we have occupied as many classes as we can, both in government and private schools. The exams are happening in more than 2,879 exam centres, 43, 720 class rooms and more than 8, 48,196 students are attending the exams. It is mandatory for each SSLC student to wear a mask to the exam centre. The volunteers of Bharat Scouts and Guides have come forward to provide these masks to every student and check if they are wearing them on a daily basis. Similarly, several NGOs and MNCs based out of Bengaluru have come forward to provide sanitisers to every exam centre as well as thermal scanners."
He added, "Each student will be provided with the sanitiser as well as checked for their temperature every day. While their exam will begin at 10.30 am, they need to be in the exam hall at 9.30 am to undergo this check-up. A lot of students had requested that they need a day's gap between Math, Science, Social Science and English exams. Hence, we have designed the timetable in a way that they get enough time to prepare with a day's interval. The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board will be soon posting the SSLC time-table and the dates for corrections of these papers will be started immediately after the exams."
Special arrangement for border district students
In the border districts of the state, the government has made arrangements for students who will appear for them examinations in the nearby centres. "With most of the government hostels and residential schools having been converted into the quarantine centres, students who stayed here have returned to their homes. In such cases, the parents and students will get permission from the education department to write exams in the centres close to their villages or towns," said the minister.
