Bhubaneswar: Odisha government on Monday announced some changes in the upcoming Plus II examination in the State.
School and Mass Education Minister, Samir Ranjan Dash said that questions will mainly come from the reduced syllabus. This applies to both regular and ex-regular students enrolled in the new syllabus and those candidates who have registered in 2016 or later.
"There will be a change in the examination pattern due to COVID-19 pandemic situation and other factors including delay in classroom teaching. The questions will come from reduced syllabus," said Dash.
According to the Minister, the students will have to appear the Plus II examination which will have 50% multiple choice questions.
Each question will carry 1 mark. Apart from this, there will be short-answer type questions (30%) with multiple choice options. Such questions will carry 2 or 3 marks each. "There will be subjective or long type questions will comprise of 20 % in the new pattern," the Minister said.
However, there will be no change in the exam pattern for the candidates who had registered in 2015 or earlier. The syllabus and question pattern will remain the same as per previous year, official sources said.
Dash further said that the dates for form fill-up will be issued soon. "The department is reviewing all aspects including demand for waiver of fee. However, no such decision has been taken so far," he added.
On January 2, the Odisha government had announced the dates for 2021 matriculation and Plus II examinations. As per the official notification, the annual Matriculation examination will be held on May 3. The exam will conclude on May 15.
Similarly, the Plus II or class 12 examination in the State will be conducted between May 15 and June 11.
It is pertinent to mention here that the schools across the State which were closed since March last year due to the unprecedented challenges and situations due to COVID-19 pandemic had reopened on January 8, 2021. At present, classes for Class 10 and 12 students is being conducted across the State.