Chennai: Over 200 government schools in remote and hilly areas get plus-1 and plus-2 exam centres thereby enabling around 40,000 students to write the board exams in their own schools.
Following the decision to convert plus-1 exam as board exam, the school education department had announced that new examination centres would be approved to reduce the stress and travel of students and their parents on exam days. In the previous year, the directorate of government examinations (DGE) had set up 2,427 exam centres for 9 lakh students who appeared for plus-2 exam.
“Over 250 schools have got new exam centres to conduct both plus-1 and plus-2 exams in March 2018. Approximately, 18 lakh students will appear for these two exams”, sources said. “Combining with class 10 exam centres, more than 500 new exam centres are approved by directorate of government exams for March 2018 exams”, sources added.
While scrutinising applications for new exam centres, the government has relaxed norms for government schools situated in hilly and remote areas. As per the norms, an exam centre should have a minimum of 150 students. But this year, some government schools in western districts got new exam centres with less than 100 students.
“Students from our school usually travel 15 kms by road to write plus-2 exam. This year we have got exam centre in our school itself”, a headmaster from Coimbatore district said. The exam centres are distributed in a manner in which students need not have to travel more than 10 kms to write their higher secondary board exams.
For class 10 exam, around 250 new exam centres were approved this year. Unlike the plus-2 students, the class 10 students usually travel less distance as the exam centres are well spread out across the state.
“The government higher secondary schools are functioning even in remote areas. This year, the DGE officials have awarded exam centres focusing on these schools”, said Samy Sathiamoorthy, state president, Tamil Nadu High and Higher Secondary School Headmasters Association. “Students in remote areas have to travel 15 to 20 kms to write plus-2 exam. They had to wake up early morning to catch the first bus for reaching the exam centres. Now, they can write their board exams without much travel and stress”, he added.
