Matric exam absentees: Here's what Odisha govt says

The State School and Mass Education Department secretary, Bishnupada Sethi on Friday said that the department will look into the matter as 'students may have remained absent from the exam due to various reasons'.

Speaking to the media, Sethi said no application fee was charged from students this year and the education system has also been adversely affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Refuting the allegations of forgery, Sethi said students might have opted out of the Matric exam due to various reasons and the department will look into the matter.

It is pertinent to mention here that thousands of examinees reportedly remained absent during the class 10 Summative-2 exams, which began on April 29, raising concerns among educationists.

While speaking to OTV, academician Satyakam Mishra had earlier said, “If a student is remaining absent for a long period, he should not be allowed to fill up the exam form. This smells of a conspiracy.”

He further claimed, “More students means an increase in grants to schools. This is a plan by school managements.”