Before she entered the examination hall, Ruchita Jain recalls she was quite nervous. “The Hindi paper was easy, and the examination began on a good note,” said the class X student who appeared for the SSLC examinations which began on Wednesday.
Students who wrote the language I paper had to appear for the examination 45 minutes ahead, as the timing of the examination has been advanced to 9.15 a.m.
Around 56,556 students attempted the examination in 207 centres in the city, according to the Directorate of Government Examinations. In Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, over 10 lakh students took the examination.
While stating that the language papers were easy, students also welcomed the introduction of the ‘top sheet’ which has students’ details, such as the registration number, pre-filled. Students only have to check the printed details and sign, thus minimising chances of errors.
School heads said that since they followed the same system for the class XII Board examinations, which concluded on Tuesday, they were familiar with the changes. Dinesh Kumar who wrote the Tamil paper noted that not having to ask for additional sheets would also save him some time.
Though calling it an efficient system, Chitra Prasad, correspondent and principal, NSN Matriculation School, suggested that the department consider stitching the top sheet with the answer sheet from next year. “From the examination point of view, it has become extremely easy for us to conduct it, and a lot of paperwork has been eliminated. But, it is also cumbersome for the school to stitch a top-sheet to each of the answer sheets. Since, this is the first year, and they have almost revolutionised the way the exam is conducted, this may be taken as a suggestion for the next year,” she said.
K. Devarajan, director of Government Examinations, said only three students had been caught for malpractices on the first day of the examination.
