Karnataka SSLC exams begin today; CM wishes Class 10 students ahead of boards

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday extended his best wishes to the students appearing for the Class 10 board examination, which will commence on July 19. Yediyurappa took to Twitter to wish the students. "My best wishes to all the students appearing for SSLC exams tomorrow. I urge my young friends to relax and focus on exams. I assure parents that our government has made all arrangements to ensure exams are held safely," he tweeted.

The SSLC exam will be conducted on July 19 and 22. Taking stock of the preparations, the Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar visited a few examination centres in Bengaluru. Later in a statement issued by his office, the minister said a teacher in Haveri, who misappropriated the fees paid by 30 students, has been suspended.These students will be allowed to take up the examination in August when the supplementary exam will be held.

Another student from Koratagere in Tumakuru, who was barred from the SSLC exam over non-payment of her dues to the school, where she studied will be allowed to appear for the supplementary exam. However, their mark sheet will only reflect that they wrote the annual exam and not the compartment exam.

The Karnataka government has decided to hold the exam in an unconventional way by using OMR sheets instead of answer sheets. The three-hour exam on Monday will cover the core subjects -- Maths, Science and Social Science whereas on July 22 there will be exams of languages such as Kannada, English, Hindi, Sanskrit and other subjects.

Earlier, the education department had said that this year 8,76,581 students will write the exam at 4,885 centres. To protect the sanctity of the exam, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC will be in place around 200 metres from the exam hall. The government also made arrangements for the transportation of students who cannot afford to reach the examination centres.

This time, the number of exam centres have been increased. Arrangements have also been made for students to write exams in the border regions of the state in Kerala and Maharashtra. Students with COVID like symptoms will write the exam in a separate hall whereas those who test positive can take it up at a COVID care centre.

The government has made vaccination mandatory for the teachers, officers and staff involved in the exam. All students will be given masks during the exams. There will be compulsory health check-up at all the exam centres, where students will be sanitised and undergo thermal screening. There will be 12 students in each hall, which means one student in each desk. There will be paramedics and ASHA workers at all the centres.

Directions have been given to the teachers and invigilators that if they show COVID signs they should not attend the exam and will be sent back. Unlike other state and central boards, the Karnataka government decided to conduct the class 10 examination as it is crucial for students to decide their stream.