Day 1 of SSC exams in Maharashtra: 17 lakh students face test of time

Students queue up at divisional board a day before exams for concessions; board steps in for 160 aspirants sans hall tickets

A day before the secondary school certificate (SSC) exams, parents and students queued up at the office of the Mumbai divisional board on Thursday with last-minute requests for concessions. There were also concerns from students who had not received hall tickets.

Students burn the midnight oil for SSC Exam, at Worli Abhyas Galli on Wednesday.(Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

Almost 4 lakh students will appear for the SSC exams from the Mumbai division which includes Thane, Palghar and Raigad. Among those looking for concessions were students with special needs.

“Many students have requested for centre change due to some injury or health problem. We are trying to clear all the genuine requests even at the last minute,” said Sharad Khandagale, secretary, Mumbai divisional board. Students who had forgotten to mention learning disabilities and other conditions while filling out forms had also come with requests for a writer and extra time.

On Thursday, the board also allowed students from three schools – two in Palghar and one in Titwala – to write their exams from another centre as these schools were not authorised by the board and did not have index numbers. Over 160 students from these schools had applied to write the SSC examination, but had not received hall tickets.

“Technically, the schools have not been authorised by the board to conduct Class 10 exams. However, in order to ensure that students in these schools don’t suffer, we have allotted them other centres,” said Khandagale.

This year, 17,00,813 students have registered for the exams from across the state. Of these students, 3,99,627 have registered from the Mumbai division.

Twenty-five flying squads of the board will be deployed to ensure malpractices and cheating do not take place. In addition to these precautions, the divisional board recently warned all centres to ensure students do not carry mobile phones inside exam halls.