The Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) exams in Karnataka will be held from June 14, Education Minister S Suresh Kumar said on Thursday. The exam will be conducted till June 25. The state government also decided to start the full-day classes for students of class 9, 10, and first and second year Pre-University across the state starting from February 1.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar along with Health Minister K Sudhakar and COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee members conducted the meeting. “The decision was taken in consultation with the state Technical Advisory Committee for COVID-19, keeping in mind the health and educational future of the students, based on the experience we have gained so far,” Suersh Kumar said
“We held a discussion with the Health Minister and COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee members at the meeting. It was decided to start full day classes for class 9, 10, first and second year PUC (class 11 and 12) students from February 1,” Suresh Kumar added. Meanwhile, he said that the Vidyagama programme, which enables continued schooling for students from classes six to eight, will continue as it is.
Education Minister S Suresh Kumar announced the dates of SSLC exams to be held from June 14 t 25. Express Photo
The schools and PUC colleges across the state were shut due to COVID-19 pandemic since early last year. Earlier starting from January 1 the education department had reopened the class 10 and second-year PUC (class 12) students, along with Vidyagama programme for students from standards six to nine with the schools functioning for half day.
The department has also said offline or online classes will continue as per the choice of students and parents, and the attendance was not compulsory.
Suresh Kumar said that on an average 75 per cent attendance had been reported in second PUC classes, while it was 70 per cent in class 10, under Vidyagama classes it recorded 45 per cent attendance.
According to the health department and education department, classes were being held as per the standing operating procedure which has been prescribed by the technical advisory committee. So far there have been no reports of large scale infection among students and teachers.