Stage Set For Annual HSC Exams In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The stage is set for the Annual High School Certificate (HSC) examinations scheduled to begin across Odisha on Friday. The question papers sent to the district nodal centres by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) will be despatched to the examination centres in the morning amid tight security.

Briefing mediapersons here on Thursday, Controller of Examinations, Board of Secondary Education, Dr Nihar Ranjan Mohanty said the Odisha bandh will have no effect on the examination as the Board has already despatched the questions and answer sheets to the district nodal centres on February 19.

“As decided, the question papers from these nodal centres will be despatched to all the examination centres on Friday morning and reach between 6 am and 8 am. We will also centrally coordinate the entire process of the despatch from the BSE headquarters in Cuttack,” he added.

Mohanty further said that for the smooth conduct of the examinations, steps have been taken to clamp prohibitory orders under Section 144 near sensitive and highly sensitive centres to keep the people away.  

Principal Secretary, School and Mass Education, Pradipta Mahapatra said vehicles required for the despatch of the question papers to the examination centres have been requisitioned by the District Education Officers (DEOs).

Asked whether the students will have problems in reaching the examination centres in view of the Odisha bandh, Mahapatra said as per the latest information, vehicular traffic has become normal in Odisha.

“I am hopeful that the students will have no problem in reaching the examination centres in time,” he pointed out.

He said the Director General of Police (DGP) has taken steps at his level to curb unethical practice during the examinations. The District Collectors and SPs have been asked to provide necessary assistance for the smooth conduct of the examinations, which will conclude on March 8.

A total of 5,87,720 students will appear for the examinations in 2953 centres.

For the distribution of question papers, 304 nodal centres have been set up while for 701 teams have been formed to despatch the question papers to the examination centres.

The evaluation of the answer sheets will be held at 60 centres in the state from March 25 to April 7.