Gujarat state board exams for classes 10 and 12 have begun today.
Nearly 9.64 lakh students across the state appeared for Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) exams which began on Monday.
Over 4.25 lakh students from the general stream in Class 12 appeared for the examinations. Similarly, more than 1.08 lakh students are expected to take the Class 12 science stream examinations, which begin at 3 p.m.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state education board decided not to hold exams in the 2020-21 academic year. The last time the board exams were held in a paper format was in March 2020.
As many as 9,64,529 students had registered for the Class 10 exams across 958 centres, while 4,25,834 candidates have registered for the Class 12 general stream examination across 527 centres. A total of 1,08,069 candidates have also registered for the Class 12 science stream examination at 140 centres.
Thus, a total of 14,98,430 candidates will appear for the board examinations. All 1,625 examination centres have been equipped with CCTV cameras to prevent irregularities, the government said.
Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani had previously stated that 30% of the questions in the examination will be objective type, in an effort to relieve the anxiety of students who are retaking the exams after a year’s absence due to the pandemic’s constraints. Previously, 20% of the questions were objective type.
The government also intends to expand the services of the Jeevan Astha helpline, which was established by the police to relieve stress among students and parents prior to and during exams.
District administration officials had also been directed to arrange buses for students coming from interior areas of the state. The state government also warned of strict action against those who spread “false rumours of paper leak at the examination centres.”