The SSLC exams, which began on March 28, concluded on Monday.
Barring initial incidents when some examinees refused to take off their Hijab, the exams were largely incident-free.
However, a record number of students remained absent, with more than 24,000 examinees staying away on each exam day. Officials attributed this to more candidates registering under the private category.
Even on Monday, the day of the last paper (science), as many as 25,526 candidates were absent. A total of 15,487 fresh candidates, 8,980 private candidates and 1,059 repeaters didn’t show up for the exam.
A total of 8,71,994 students had registered for the science exam.
In recent remarks to the media, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education BC Nagesh had said that most of the absentees were private candidates.
“A large number of students had registered as private candidates because they thought there won’t be exams this year, too, and they would get easily promoted. Absenteeism was also high in this category,” Nagesh had said earlier.
Figures, however, tell a different story. The number of regular fresh candidates skipping the exam rose with each paper.
Also Read | SSLC results likely in third week of May
On Day One, over 9,497 freshers were absent. The number rose to 13,954 on the second day. By the third day, this number went up to 15,233.
The numbers for the subsequent exam days were 15,291, 15,440 and 15,487.
According to teachers, absenteeism in the fresh students’ category cannot be compared with the previous year’s figures.
“Since students were promoted without exams from class 9 to 10, more students appeared for the SSLC exams this year under the fresh category,” said a teacher.
Another teacher, who was also on examination duty, said: “As per our analysis, fresh students who were absent for the exams were irregular to class and were not confident of clearing the exam.”
An official from the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board told DH: “There is not much difference in the attendance percentage this year compared to the previous year. The number looks big because all students were promoted to class 10 from class 9.”
Key answers out today
The KSEEB will publish the key answers for SSLC exams on Tuesday. Students can file objections on http://sslc.karnataka.gov.in, within three days.
Results in May
Minister Nagesh said the results will be announced in the second week of May.
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