SSC exam kicks off, 3.5 lakh to take it in Mumbai

MUMBAI/PUNE: As Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams for Class 10 begin on Thursday, for the first time students have been requested to carry their school identity cards, along with hall tickets. More than 15.7 lakh students, including 3.5 lakh from the Mumbai division, have registered for the exams-the lowest in five years (see box).
"Though carrying a school identity card is not compulsory, the board has asked students to try and keep it with them," said a principal.
The exam will be conducted on 100% syllabus and in regular format and at designated exam centres after two years of the pandemic.
Preference for non-state boards and impact of the pandemic have led to a major decline in registrations for SSC board exams this year. Addressing a press conference, Sharad Gosavi, state board chairman, said, "The decline is not specific to this year but it is observed as a trend since the past five years. Parents have set their preferences and those in urban areas prefer non-state board schools. However, the trend is the opposite for HSC enrolments as recorded this year too when the registrations were more than last year. So, students who are with non-state boards till Class 10, switch to Maharashtra board during junior college."
As part of its 'copy-free exam campaign', schools have been told not to allow entry of students in classrooms after 11am or 3pm, depending on the exam timing. They will get an additional 10 minutes after the allotted exam time. Students have to be present in class 30 minutes before a question paper is distributed. The copy-free exam campaign took off when HSC exams began on February 21. So far, a number of copy cases have been reported from HSC centres across the state.