Kerala Education Board ready to conduct SSLC, plus two exams a week after the lockdown if other conditions are favourable

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State general education department has intimated the high power committee chaired by chief secretary Tom Jose that it was prepared to conduct the SSLC and Plus One, Plus Two examinations a week after the government lifts the lockdown, if other conditions remain favourable.

“This doesn’t mean that the government would be conducting the pending examinations immediately after the lockdown which is believed to be lifted by May 3. The final decision and examination schedule is dependent on a lot many things of which nobody has any clarity till date. When discussing the preparedness of the department, the future course of action is planned on the basis of a hypothesis that lockdown would be lifted on May 3 and normalcy would follow thereafter. But that should not necessarily happen in the same fashion as is planned now”, said a senior official with the department.
After discussing the preparedness at the Quality Improvement Programme (QIP) committee meeting on Tuesday in which officials and teachers' organisations participate, the department has their plans with the high power committee. “Several state boards have not yet begun their 10th class examination. Since the lockdown is nationwide, any decision about the conduct of any examination would be highly dependent on the nature of directives from the union government. Some clarity might emerge on such aspects in the proposed video conferencing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the state Chief Ministers'', another top official said.

According to the tentative plan the department has evolved at present, the Plus One and Plus Two examinations can be conducted in two time slots. Considering the examinations, the department had exempted examination centres and valuation camps from running labour camps during the lockdown. The department, in association with NSS units, have already taken steps to provide masks and sanitisers for students attending the examinations in the post lockdown period. ``In case the Covid situation in the state abates and the intensity of the diseases continue to be unfavourable in Gulf regions where also the Kerala board examinations are held it has been suggested that on such circumstances permission may be given for online monitoring of the examination in such places’’, the report said.