Date:16/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/16/stories/2006031615970500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

SSLC exam from today

Staff Reporter

8.35 lakh students will take the examination this year

Bangalore: With the SSLC examinations scheduled to begin from Thursday, parents and students alike seem to be on an edge.

Speaking to The Hindu here on Wednesday, T.M. Kumar, Director (Examination), Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB), said that a total of 8.35 lakh students would be taking the SSLC examination this year, of whom 6,87,800 are first timers. Over 4.65 lakh boys and 3.65 lakh girls would appear for the examination this year. He said that 2,486 examination centres had been set up in the State. In places with over two centres, cluster centres had been set up. There were a total of 1,392 cluster centres, he said.

D.M. Mantoor, Secretary of KSEEB, said that this time around, there would be 12 versions of the question papers, which reduced the chances of malpractices. All the papers had two parts, one with multiple-choice questions and the other with objective and essay-type questions. "We have changed the examination system to check the occurrence of malpractices," he said.

According to sources, to make sure the question papers did not leak, invigilators had been directed to open the question paper packets only in the examination halls and get the signatures of the students present.

District officials had been directed to form squads, Mr. Mantoor said. These squads would conduct surprise visits and crack down on those found to be cheating.

He also said that the evaluation of answer sheets would be taken up at all the district headquarters simultaneously. "The answer sheets will be evaluated from March 27.

We will try to complete evaluation as soon as possible," he said.

Mr. Mantoor said that in all probability, the results would be announced in the third week of April.