SSC examinations begin with high turnout, minor irregularities reported

The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) public examinations began on Saturday with the first language paper, recording an attendance of 99.65%. A total of 5,15,374 regular students and 626 private candidates appeared for the examination across the State.

The Board of Secondary Education set up 1,240 examination centres, and officials said the first day passed off without any major incidents, though a few cases of negligence and an allotment controversy were reported.

It was reported that three exam officials on duty – a chief superintendent, a departmental officer and an invigilator were relieved from examination duties in Khammam district for reported negligence and slackness at duty.

In a curious case reported from Kukatpally here, 80 students from New Era High School were allotted to their school as the examination centre. When hall tickets of a few students from the centre went viral on Saturday, it led to claims of a nexus between the school and officials.

The District Educational Officer of Medchal-Malkajgiri later issued a clarification. According to the official, all the allotments were made using a software-based jumbling system, and the randomisation and distribution of students was not done at the district level.

The Medchal-Malkajgiri district has a total of 237 centres for SSC public examinations. The school in question has 337 candidates appearing for the exams. And within the same zone, where the school is located, there are a total of four exam centres in which 857 candidates from 13 schools are distributed.

The 80 students from New Era High School, although allotted to the same school based on randomisation, are not seated in the same place. Additionally, no invigilator at this centre is a teacher from the same school; all invigilators are deputed teachers from government schools. The examination centre is also allotted four sitting squads to organise the exam in a transparent and efficient manner, the official explained.