Karnataka Minister Confirms SSLC Exam On Schedule, Ban Order Around Centres

Karnataka primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar said SSLC exams will commence on June 25, 2020 and close to 90% of the 8.5 lakh students have downloaded the hall tickets signaling there will be no rethink on the exam process.

The minister added that prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure will be imposed within a 200-meter radius of the exam centers to avoid crowding around the premises. 

The ban order will be invoked for II PU English exam as well, to be held on June 18, 2020.

Minister S Suresh clarified the scrapping of exams by other states, "The states which have called off the exams shouldn't be our example. We must take a cue from Kerala that successfully conducted four papers and operated a boat to ferry just one student. I tell my officers that they should be enthused by it."

The Minister also appealed to the parents to avoid coming to the exam center or waiting at a distance for their children.

The thermal screening takes just 10 seconds and candidates can walk-in at the exam center by 9:30 am, for the exam scheduled at 10:30 am.

The situation in Karnataka isn't alarming as the cases on June16, 2020 were about 7,500, and many studies projects peak in "August or October", as stated by Minister S Suresh.

The 234 infectious cases in Karnataka are in the 14-16 age group. 125 patients have also been discharged. 

The students who have been tested positive can appear in the supplementary exams as freshers.

Three such infected students are appearing for the exams, one of them is a Chikkamagaluru boy who is preparing for the exam from the hospital.

The minister confessed that home, health, transport, and rural development departments are coordinating to ensure that the students and parents are safely ferried to the exam centers.