Two months after the Quality Improvement Project (QIP) monitoring committee for schools recommended the possibility of conducting the SSLC and higher secondary education (HSE) examinations simultaneously in the morning, the government is yet to take a decision on it. The higher secondary examinations are conducted in the morning, and the SSLC examinations in the afternoon. The SSLC examinations for this academic year will begin on March 13.
Teachers said parts of the State experienced high temperatures in March. Children’s comfort should not be ignored. Till 2005, the SSLC examinations used to be conducted in the morning, they pointed out.
RTI query and response
A teacher said a plea by students to the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights seeking conduct of the examinations in the morning elicited a reply from the Pareeksha Bhavan last year that most schools did not have facilities for storing question papers. An RTI request by the teacher seeking the amount spent on storing question papers revealed that for the past three years, ₹1 crore was spent on it annually. “If such a large amount of money is spent every year, then why cannot facilities be put in place in schools,” the teacher said.
Teachers’ support
Teachers’ organisations too are in support of the move. AKSTU general secretary N. Sreekumar said the General Education Secretary had said that steps to enumerate the students in case higher secondary and Class 10 students appeared for the exam together were under way. Even if some schools did not have facilities for storing question papers, these could be kept in a nearby school that was part of their cluster, he said.
The Kerala Pradesh School Teachers Association president said Plus Two examinations were more important than the SSLC examinations and if the Plus Two question papers could be stored in schools, the same could be done for SSLC.
Feedback from districts
Director of Public Instruction K.V. Mohankumar said the issue had come up in a meeting with the Education Minister, and it was found that in 150-odd schools facilities were inadequate for conducting the examinations for students of Class 10, 11, and 12 together. The Minister had directed that feedback be collected from each district before a decision is taken.
The DPI said five or six students would have to be accommodated on a bench if the examinations were held together.
Logistical issues on storage of question papers would also have to be worked out, he said. The SSLC examination would likely be conducted in the morning, he said, adding that a decision would be made soon.