Over 20,000 students opt for change in examination centres

Many want to write the exams from their home towns

Around 23,000 students who are gearing up to write the SSLC and second year pre-university (II PU) examinations have opted for a change in their exam centres as they have returned to their home towns during the lockdown.

Further, some students living in Bengaluru are planning to go to their native places and write the examination from there. They are worried that students whose homes are in containment zones will not be allowed to write the examination scheduled next month and will have to wait for the supplementary examination.

“Although my ward is not a containment zone, my father says that the cases in Bengaluru will increase in the coming days and has told me to go stay with my grandmother in Hassan district and write the exam from there. I think that is the best idea. I don’t want to risk missing my examination,” said a SSLC student living in North Bengaluru on condition of anonymity.

The Department of Primary and Secondary Education decided to give the students the option to write the examination either at the centre originally allotted to them or to pick a centre close to their hometown. It offered this option as it wanted students to avoid travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, heads of schools and PU colleges say that a majority of students still wanted to travel to their originally allotted examination centre and write the exam with their classmates. “Some students have decided to travel back as public transport has resumed during the Lockdown 4.0,” said a headmaster of a government school in North Bengaluru.

More PU students opt for centre change

More PU students have opted for a change than students in SSLC as they have only the English paper pending. While 7,984 SSLC students have applied for a change, over 15,000 PU students have exercised this option.

M. Kanagavalli, Director, Department of Pre-University Education said the examination would be conducted in 1,016 examination centres and the department would take over additional classrooms in the same centre as well as other colleges and schools in the vicinity.

While the last date to apply for change in examination for second PU students is over, V. Sumangala, Director, Karnataka Secondary Education and Examination Board, said that SSLC students can apply for a change in examination centres till May 29. The SSLC examinations will be held at 2,879 examination centres across the State.

Around 5.98 lakh students have registered for the second pre-university English examination that is scheduled to be held on June 18. Meanwhile, 8.48 lakh students have registered for the SSLC examination scheduled to be held between June 25 and July 4.