Bhubaneswar: The Annual High School Certificate (HSC) Examination for Class-X will commence February 20 and continue till March 4.
Meanwhile, thousands of secondary school teachers have been staging protests at Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar for the last 11 days. No concrete step was stated to have been taken to resolve the issue, sources said.
The teachers, under the Odisha Secondary School Teachers’ Association (OSSTA), are protesting against the alleged failure of the state government to address their 21-point charter of demands. These demands include grants to eligible schools, salary system revisions, removal of pay grade anomalies, extension of retirement age, and pension benefits for retired teachers of unaided schools.
It can be mentioned here that the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) is set to make use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to monitor the conduct of the annual high school examinations this year.
As per reports, AI-powered cameras will be installed in strong rooms, DEO offices, and examination halls. In case any discrepancies are noticed, the operators at the command will be intimated about it.
As per the schedule, the examination will begin with the first language Odia paper February 20 while the exam for the second language English will be held February 23. The students will appear for Mathematics paper February 26, Hindi/Sanskrit February 28, Science March 2, and social science March 4.
The vocational practical examinations will be conducted in respective schools by OSEPA between January 15 and 31. The HSC examinations will be held in 2,991 centres in Odisha while 5,51,611 students have registered to appear for the exams. As many as 7,831 students will sit for the SOSC examination in 55 centres while 3,037 students will appear for the Madhyma examinations at 107 centres.
According to officials, keeping in view the possible heat wave, there will be no second sitting in the examinations. The evaluation of question papers will start March 15 and is likely to be completed in the subsequent 12 days.
ARINDAM GANGULY, OP
