Arrangements in place as SSC exams begin

Sitting and flying squads have been constituted to ensure the smooth conduct of the examination

The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations in Anantapur and Kurnool districts began smoothly with thousands of parents accompanying their children to examination centres. As the exams were not held for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most parents were seen giving last-minute tips to students.

A total of 52,907 students from Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai (SSS) districts, as well as 52,357 from Nandyal and Kurnool, took the school final examination on the first day. Most students were dressed in their school uniforms or in their own casual clothes, with nervousness written all over their faces. The examination began at 9.30 a.m. at 304 centres in Anantapur and SSS Districts while the test began in 272 centres in Kurnool and Nandyal districts.

Police security has been deployed at all the examination centres to ensure no untoward incident takes place. Sitting and flying squads have been constituted to ensure the smooth conduct of the examination and to check for any kind of malpractices at exam halls. The question papers were taken out of strong rooms early in the morning for the 9.30 a.m. examination. Masks have been made compulsory in the exam hall and students were allowed to enter the exam hall from 8.30 a.m.

Students were strictly advised to adhere to the usual procedure of not writing their names or roll numbers on the answer sheets. The choice of questions has also been increased to 33 questions. Anantapur District Education Officer K. Samuel had given an awareness talk to all the teachers and invigilators two days ago to not put pressure on students for getting ranks or marks and to let them perform as per their ability.

The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) ran free buses for the students to reach their examination centres.