Day one of the SSLC and higher secondary examinations passed off without any hiccups for thousands of students in Ernakulam district on Monday.
Terming the questions for both SSLC (Malayalam) and Plus Two (English) as ‘relatively easy', they said that the heat outside was ‘scorching' but the questions were ‘cool'.
Nearly 34,000 students tested their skills in the SSLC examination. The authorities had provided 15 minutes ‘cooling off' time to read the question papers before the actual start of the examination.
Elaborating on the day's developments, Anila George, Deputy Director of Education, Ernakulam, said that no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the district. The examination was held peacefully in all centres, she said.
Police personnel had stepped up vigil while transporting the question papers from the treasuries and banks to more than 300 examination centres in the district. Question papers were stored in 15 treasuries and three banks in the district.
Students were permitted to take in water bottles (without printed stickers) to escape from the heat. Drinking water was also distributed at regular intervals in several schools. The Deputy Director said that special squads were also deployed to monitor the conduct of the examination, she said.
Stating that the inaugural day of the annual examination passed off peacefully, S. S. Anilkumar, Regional Deputy Director, Higher Secondary Education, Ernakulam, said that around 72,223 students appeared for the Plus One and Plus Two examinations held on Monday.
For Plus Two students, the English question paper was easier than what they had expected. Many said that they had feared the paper might turn difficult but it was really easy.
Mr. Anilkumar said that there were no hiccups in the conduct of the examination across the district. He said that about 27,749 students appeared for the Plus Two examination under the scheme I (regular) category in Ernakulam district. Under the open school category, 5,260 students tested their luck on Monday.
In the Plus One section, 28,600 students appeared in the regular category while 6,125 wrote the examination under the open school section.
The examinations were held at 176 centres.
