14.85 lakh students appear for HSC exam in Maharashtra

For the first time the board exams were conducted in the home centres, students did not have to visit other colleges to appear for their exam

Mumbai: The first exam for students of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) conducted by Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher secondary school education (MSBSHSE) started smoothly on Friday. This was the first board exam being conducted offline since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.

Students appear for HSC Exam at Bright High School and Junior College, Bhandup, in Mumbai on Friday. (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

For the first time the board exams were conducted in the home centres, students did not have to visit other colleges to appear for their exam. Students, parents, teachers and board officials found this to be one of the main reasons for a smooth first day of examination.

“The home environment that the students received this year made it very comfortable for them. Moreover, as we had declared a protocol wherein students will be given an hour to settle down and fill in their personal details in the answer sheet, it gave ample time for the faculty and students to adjust and start on time,” said Subhash Borse, Secretary of Mumbai division of MSBSHSE. As per the timeline protocol, the first bell rang at 9.50 am after which the students were allowed to enter the exam centre while adhering to Covid protocols.

A total of 14.85 lakh candidates appeared for the HSC exam from across the state. Mumbai division alone has 3.35 lakh candidates writing the exam across 1,282 centres. This includes more than 6 lakh from the Science stream and over 4 lakh each from Arts and Commerce streams.

Advait Maiti, student of Mithibai college, said, “Although we had hardly attended college, in the last few months our college staff guided us through the prelims and we gained some confidence to be able to give our first offline exam in two years. With the extra time in hand, we could manage to finish our English paper on time.”

Similarly, Namita Shetty, Arts student at St Xaviers College, said, “After appearing for our SSC board exams the pandemic was declared, although we got our admission, we had not seen the college campus until a few months back. Appearing in the same college also seems different as we hardly know our fellow classmates. Attending the first exam was hectic and giving the test was tiresome but I managed to complete it within time.”

“We did not receive any distress calls or any permission for those who got delayed to reach the exam centres this year. On Thursday 65 children filled in the examination form at the last minute and we allotted them seats to write the exam. There were no cases of copying found in any school or junior college, there were 13 flying squads including district collector and education officers who visited the centres but no untoward incident was reported,” added Borse.

Krutika Desai, Principal, Mithibai College, said, “WE had around 2475 students from our college appearing for the exam so we had additional staff from the degree college as well who helped with invigilating and other exam related formalities. We ensured every child’s temperature was checked and basic sanitation provisions were made. We made all students enter the college in batches avoiding crowds at the entrance.”

The HSC practical and oral exams that began on February 14 ended on March 3. The state board conducted the examination for the entire syllabus, last year the students were assessed through internal assessment as the board exams were cancelled owing to the second wave that hit the State.

Another principal from a suburb on condition of anonymity, stated, “With the pandemic and online classes it was indeed a troublesome year for the students. Besides the lack of exposure and the indecisiveness of the examination schedule must have added to the pressure on the young minds.”