Bhubaneswar: Annual Plus II exams in the streams of Arts, Science and Commerce began in Odisha amid tight security on Thursday.
A total of 3,69,537 students from 1,556 junior colleges are writing the exams at 1,091 centres across the state. Science and Commerce students are writing exams in their MIL subject on the first day.
Of the total number of students, 2,35,183 are from the Arts stream, 99,018 from Science, 27,278 from Commerce and 8,058 from Vocational Education.
The Council of Higher Secondary Education is leaving no stone unturned to ensure incident-free Plus II examinations, in light of question papers going viral on social media and reports of rampant malpractices at some centres during the ongoing annual High School Certificate exams in the state.
The Council has ensured tight security at all examination centres, hubs and during despatch of question papers from the hubs to the examination centres. There is also a ban on the use of cellphones by any staff engaged in examination duty, smart watches and camera pens. Also, students are not allowed to carry cellphones inside exam centres.
CCTV cameras have been installed at all examination centres. For the first time, the Council has issued two control room numbers (0674-2303803/2300099), requesting people to inform the Council immediately if they notice any irregularities at the examination centres in their locality. Parents and guardians can also contact the Council on these numbers regarding any problems faced by their wards at the centre.