‘Easy’ paper kicks off SSLC exams

A differently abled student writing the SSLC examination with the help of a scribe at Cotton Hill Girls Higher Secondary School in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. Photo: S. Mahinsha

A straightforward Malayalam paper eased in over four lakh students attempting the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations into the fortnight-long ordeal.

The first language part I paper began at 1.45 p.m. with most students managing to finish their paper well ahead of time.

Things ran like clockwork even at the largest examination centre in the State, St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School at Pattom, which hosted 1,721 students in addition to candidates appearing for the Kerala Teacher Training Course examination which also began on Monday.

The school campus was teeming with parents all day, with a Higher Secondary examination being conducted in the morning. Despite the sheer numbers, the school accommodated around 20 students per classroom for the afternoon paper without any problem.

Teachers too worked in batches. St. Mary’s being an aided institution saw teachers from other government schools coming to invigilate. These teachers were also involved in overseeing the room set aside for children under the Inclusive Education for the Disabled (IED) category, Principal of the institution Fr.A. Varkey said.

Special needs

At St. Mary’s, there were 28 children with special needs (CWSN) taking the examination, some of them managing with the support of a scribe, who could be a junior student of the institution, and others having to make do with ‘Extra Time.’ There were four resource persons aiding students at St. Mary’s.

At the other large centre in the city, Cotton Hill Government Higher Secondary School for Girls, there were two resource teachers to support the 16 special children attempting the SSLC exam.

The burden on IED teachers was even greater, as they were on their toes since morning helping students attempting the Higher Secondary paper as well. A.S. Shara, one of the resource teachers, was relieved that the first paper was easy.

“There are 40 students for the Higher Secondary paper and almost immediately after this, we need to invigilate the SSLC batch too. In some cases, you have to sit with the child and try to elicit one coherent word as an answer to the question,” she said, referring mostly to ‘MR (mental retardation)’ cases.