Annual HSC exams from Feb 28, Plus Two exams from Mar 1st week

Cuttack/Bhubaneswar: The annual High School Certificate (HSC) examinations in Odisha will begin from February 28 while the annual Plus Two examinations would begin from the first week of March next year.

The date of annual HSC examinations was was decided in a meeting of the Examination Committee of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) at its headquarters office in Cuttack this afternoon.

Talking to media persons after the meeting, BSE president Sushant Kumar Das said as decided by the Committee, the examination would begin on February 8 and conclude on March 10. Besides, the annual Sanskrit Madhyama examination would be conducted simultaneously with the same schedule of the HSC examinations. About six lakh students will appear in the HSC examinations while about 4000-5000 students will appear in the annual Sanskrit Madhyama examination.

“The online form fill-up for the annual examination will begin from the first week of November and continue till the month-end while the Controller of Examinations will come up with a detailed schedule of the examinations in the first week of November,” he added.

Talking about the measures the Board will take for the HSC examinations, Das said the Board will take similar steps which had taken in the previous years. “The Board will seek necessary support from the state government for the smooth conduct of the examinations,” he pointed out.

The Board president said the Board fixed the date of the annual HSC examinations after getting the permission from the State Election Commission (SEC) and the School and Mass Education department.

Asked whether there is any possibility that the date of the examinations would be deferred, he said in case the date of examination is deferred, it will have no effect on the announcement of the results.

“As per practice, results are generally announced within two months after the examinations. Besides, the Supreme Court guideline also clearly states that the results should be declared within two months after the examinations. We will strictly adhere to the Supreme Court guidelines,” Das noted.

To a question on the selection of examination centres, the BSE president said there was no discussion in this regard in the meeting today. “We will begin the process of selection of examination centres only after the form fill-up,” he informed.

On the process of evaluation of answer sheets, Das said the Board will try its best to ensure error-free evaluation.

“About 50,000 teachers would be engaged in the evaluation of about 36 lakh answer sheets. Considering the volume of work, there could be some mistakes inadvertently. Despite this, efforts would be made to ensure proper evaluation to give justice to the students,” he said.

The announcement of the Board came after a review meeting presided over by School and Mass Education minister Debi Prasad Mishra at the State Secretariat in Bhubaneswar earlier in the day in the presence of the department secretary Ranjana Chopra.

Talking to OTV after a review meeting at the State Secretariat here today, School and Mass Education minister Debi Prasad Mishra said both the Panchayat elections and the annual Board examinations are important for the government and the students respectively.

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“In view of the Panchayat elections, the School and Mass Education secretary had sought the opinion of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) about the rescheduling of annual HSC examinations. In reply, the Board has given its tentative examination schedule,” Mishra said.

He also said the keeping the Panchayat elections in view, the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) has decided to conduct the annual Plus Two examinations from March first week till the last week of the month. “The Council will prepare the detailed schedule of the examinations in a meeting of the Examination Committee and announce the schedule very soon,” he added.