It was a day of double delight for Rinu Jacob and Sangeetha. While they were nervous while entering the classroom at the Government Girl's High School here for the first paper of the all important SSLC examinations, they had much to cheer by the time they emerged out of it a couple of hours later.
While the Malayalam first paper proved simple putting them at ease, there was a bigger surprise of the Minister for Education P. K. Abdu Rabb waiting for them in the courtyard of the school campus as they walked out.
They were the first to shake hands with the Minister who asked them about the examination. Rinu came out with the question paper in a flash when Mr. Rabb asked for it. As he went through the question paper more students who emerged after the examination were milling around him. The Minister smiled and chatted with them.
Saritha was too excited about the easy nature of the first examination and even thanked the Minister as if he helped to make it simple. She even caught Mr. Rabb off guard for a moment when she touched his feet seeking his blessings. The Minister wished her the best and hoped that she would find the rest of the examinations also easy.
Talking to media persons, Mr. Rabb said that he was in the city and thought it was fitting to visit the students on the first day of the SSLC exams.
Asked about the confusion about the dispatch of answer sheets of higher secondary examination in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Rabb said that the issue had not come to his notice and that he would look in to it. There was no room for any such confusion as the authorities were informed in advance about all such things, he said.
While most of the students found the exam easy, Mathew P.J., a Malayalam teacher, said that the questions could be answered best by those well-prepared and having a feel of contemporary affairs. The group of Jishnu, Vishnu Krishnan, Rahul, Vasudevan, Ashish, and Kiran of SRV High School found the questions easy except for the 15th one requiring them to prepare a review based on a poem. “That was a tough one,” was their response. Some of them also complained about lack of time.
Deputy Director of Education, Ernakulam, Anila George, said that the examination was conducted without any hitch across the district.
