Students staying in containment zones across Karnataka will be allowed to write the class 10 board exams set to begin on Thursday. The decision was confirmed by Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) director V Sumangala.
"Students in containment zones were earlier asked to skip this examination and write the supplementary examination but that decision has been changed and they will be allowed to write the examinations this week. They will be seated in a separate room," Sumangala told TNM.
There are as many as 440 active containment zones in Bengaluru as on Monday. All existing examination centres that are located inside containment zones will also be shifted.
More than 8.4 lakh students have registered to write the board exams, which starts on June 25 and ends on July 4.
Students will undergo thermal screening and have to wear masks, use sanitisers and maintain distance at the exam centres. Students with signs of cough, cold and fever will also be seated in a separate room with one student on each bench. Health checkup centres will be set up at examination centres and will be open till the completion of the examination.
Examination during monsoon
In a few districts of Karnataka, officials have the added problem of conducting the examinations during the peak monsoon period. The southwest monsoon is active in the state and heavy rains have been reported in the coastal and Malnad regions in the state.
In Kodagu district, officials are taking measures to ensure that students do not have to commute long distances to write the examination.
"We have identified 350 students who might face difficulties because they are coming from remote areas to write the examinations. We will be housing them in hostels so that they do not face difficulties commuting," Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Annies Joy said.
For students in border areas
In addition to this, few students will be travelling from Kerala to write examinations in districts like Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada. In Kodagu, the students from Kerala will be tested upon their arrival in Kodagu and will be accommodated in hostels in the district until their examinations are completed.
In other districts like Dakshina Kannada, where as many as 367 students from bordering districts of Kerala, including Kasaragod, will be travelling to write the examinations, buses have been arranged to transport the students from the border checkpost. Such students will not need to register on the Seva Sindhu portal nor will they require interstate e-passes. Parents have been asked to bring the students to the border and the students will be transported to the examination centres before 7.30 am.
KSEEB has shifted two examination centres to Goa for the convenience of 57 students living close to the state border. Earlier, students would write the examination in Karwar in Uttara Kannada district, but now, arrangements will be made at schools in Zuarinagar and Mangor Hill on the Goa side of the state border.
While board examinations were cancelled in Telangana and Tamil Nadu, Karnataka decided to go ahead with holding examinations. A petition filed in the Supreme Court questioning the decision was dismissed and the Karnataka government has given assurances to the apex court that certain guidelines will be followed to ensure that students maintain distance, wear masks and sanitise their hands during the examination.
Some schools in the state have conducted mock runs of the examination without the students.