Fewer SSLC centres this year for smoother exam process

The number of examination centres for this year’s SSLC examinations have been reduced to make the process of conducting the exams smoother and more efficient. The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB), which conducts the examination, has reduced the number of centres in the state from 3,082 last year, to 2,770 this year.

Director of KSEEB, Yashoda Bopanna said this was being done by using centres with better infrastructure to their full capacity. “For example, there are centres which can accommodate up to 700 students, but till now, only around 350 students or so were writing their exams there,” she explained. “Transporting question and answer booklets and ensuring security to the centres will be easier if they are fewer in number,” the official said.

This year, SSLC examinations are scheduled to begin on March 30 with the first language papers. Students will face the exams in the new pattern, in which the question papers and answer booklets will be provided separately. This measure is also intended to make transportation easy and ensure answer booklets are less bulky.

CCTV cameras
Director Bopanna said the board has not asked schools, which are exam centres, to install cameras in classrooms. “We have not had any paper leak incidents in the past. Officials are very cautious when dealing with question papers,” she said. However, another official said they had asked schools to set up CCTV cameras at certain locations.

“We have said that CCTV cameras should compulsorily be set up in at least that part of the school where the question papers are received and answer bundles are stored. However, we are not enforcing it strictly since most government schools do not have funds to do so,” one official at the KSEEB said.