Kerala - Kochi   

SSLC exams begin on a smooth note

KOCHI: Day one of the SSLC and the higher secondary examinations began on a mixed note in the district on Wednesday, with students and teachers hopeful of a ‘trouble-free’ examination year this time. It was a new experience for SSLC students on the inaugural day, as they wrote the examination in the afternoon.

The Education Department had gone ahead with its decision to change the schedule brushing aside criticism that the timing was ‘not ideal’. Supporting the viewpoint that morning was the best time to hold an examination, a section of the students said that they lose the freshness during the afternoon.

Said Rajesh G., a student in the city: “Morning hours would have been ideal, as we could walk in with a clear mind. With temperatures soaring in March, the wait for the examination to begin is long, as it starts only by 1.45 p.m.”

But the first day did not spring any surprises, with many feeling that the Malayalam paper was not that difficult. Explaining the general mood, Florin Das, Headmistress of Government Girls High School here, said that the paper was easy. The ‘cooling time’ (students are given 15 minutes to understand the questions) eased the natural anxiety of the students.

But the anxious parents waiting outside the examination hall were not that ‘cool’ thanks to the Education Department’s decision to keep the answer sheets on the campus itself. “They should have transported it to safe destinations,” was how Premachandran, a parent responded to this ‘reform’.

Geetha Gopakumar, a housewife, was critical of what she termed ‘last minute’ changes being made in the SSLC examination system in the State. “The authorities should not test the nerves of the student community by making such changes on the eve of the examination,” she said. There was no scare in the higher secondary scene, with the authorities sticking to last year’s schedule. ‘Average’ – was how students described the English examination on day one.

The district authorities were also happy, as they could shift the answer sheets to the nearby post offices before evening. K.M. Sivaraman, district co-ordinator of the examination, said that the day passed off peacefully.

Unprecedented security was in place to avert any untoward incident at the SSLC examination centres in the district.

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