BHUBANESWAR: In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, students will appear for the high school certificate (HSC) examination at their respective schools unlike previous years, the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) said on Friday.
However, the invigilators will be from other schools. BSE sources said the board authorities took the decision to prevent students and their parents from travelling long distances and staying outside amid a global pandemic. The examination will start from May 3 and continue till May 15. Around 6.5 lakh students may sit for the board examination this year.
School and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash said his department has taken this decision keeping the Covid-19 situation in mind. “Students of more than 8000 high schools will appear for the Class X board examination at their respective schools. They will face difficulties while searching for rooms near the examination centres or staying in groups. We have to consider what is safe for the health of the children. Hence, we took this decision,” he added.
Educationist and former BSE president Jahan Ara Begum said the state government has welcomed the move. “It will prevent the students and their parents to travel to other places for the examination during the pandemic. But the government should take strict measures to discourage malpractice in examination halls,” she added.
The department has already reduced 30 per cent of the course curriculum. While each paper will of 80 marks, the evaluation will be done on a total of 100 marks. The students will answer 50 marks (objective type questions) on an OMR sheet, while they will answer the rest of the 30 marks (subjective type questions) on a question-cum-answer booklet. They will get four sets of questions for subjects like English, Maths, Science and Social sciences, while a single set for the others. Earlier, the state government had decided to provide a free examination guide ‘Parikshya Darpan’ to help them prepare for the upcoming examination.