Avg 250 absentees in each SSLC exam

Mangaluru: The SSLC examination concluded without any glitches in Dakshina Kannada on Saturday.
The district recorded no malpractice throughout the exam. When compared to the previous year, the district witnessed fewer absentees for the exam. The exams that began on March 31, recorded an average of about 250 absentees per exam.
“Most of the absentees this year are long absentees, repeaters, private candidates or private candidates who are repeaters, and only a handful are regular fresh candidates. In the preceding years, when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak, the number of absentees was high, not just in Dakshina Kannada, but across Karnataka,” said Venkatesh Nayak, nodal officer for the SSLC examination, Dakshina Kannada.
A total 29,572 candidates, including 28,705 fresh ones, had registered for the SSLC examination in the district this year, and the exam was held in 98 centres.
The numbers of absentees were high in Puttur BEO limits, followed by Mangaluru south and north. On Saturday, a total 77 candidates were absent in Puttur, 52 in the south, and 45 in the north BEO limits. In total, the social science exam on Saturday recorded 263 absentees.
Among the regular candidates, the majority of the absentees are chronic absentees or long absentees.
Sources from the department of public instruction said that the long-term or chronic absentees are candidates registered for the current academic year, and treated as fresh candidates. However, they never attend school, but register for the examination and never show up at exam centres.
“The absentees among the regular SSLC candidates, who attended classes without fail, are very few. They may remain absent for genuine reasons, often health or others, but not due to lack of preparation,” the source added.
The evaluation of the SSLC exam papers will commence next week in Dakshina Kannada. “There are about seven evaluation centres in the district,” informed Nayak.