The State government is mulling conducting the SSLC, higher secondary, and vocational higher secondary examinations in centres inside the containment zones.
Though an advisory from the Health Department is expected soon, the Education Department is of the opinion that there is no need to shift the centres outside the containment zones.
A final decision is yet to be made. The Chief Minister had earlier announced that there would be no examination centres inside these zones. As of now, there are around 27 exam centres inside the containment zones. However, this could vary on the basis of the number of COVID-19 positive cases. Most of the exam centres that are located inside containment zones are in Wayanad. Nearly 8,000 of the 11,000-odd students whose exam centres are in such zones are in that district.
Officials say if a student is not COVID-19 positive or in home quarantine and there is no related issues in the family, the student could appear for the examination in a centre in the containment zone.
Meanwhile, the arrangements for the examinations are going on in full steam.
Thermal scanners
Distribution of the nearly 5,000 infrared thermometers for thermal scanning has begun. By Sunday, these will reach district education offices and on Monday, the exam centres. Some aided schools, especially those with a large number of students, have purchased these scanners to check if the students had fever. Schools will require these in the days to come as part of the school health programme, say officials.
The General Education Department is also supplying gloves to be used by the nearly 60,000 teachers who will be invigilators. No major concerns were raised in a video conference with district-level education officials attended by Minister for General Education C. Ravindranath, Eduation Secretary A. Shajahan, and Director of General Education Jeevan Babu K., they say.
Disinfection of classrooms in exam centres is under way across the State. Masks and sanitisers are also being provided to schools. Hand-wash facilities too are being provided.
In the capital, the disinfection is being carried out by the city Corporation team in the 52 schools that are functioning as exam centres. Corporation standing committee chairperson Sudarsanan C. says more masks will be needed by the students. Hence, two reusable masks are being provided for free by the civic body. These masks were those manufactured in houses as part of a campaign to produce 5 lakh masks.
