The Odisha government has ordered a probe into the absence of 43,489 Class X students in this year’s High School Certificate (HSC) exams that ended on May 7. The move comes after the school and mass education department found that of the 5.71 lakh students who had filled up forms for the exam, only 5.3 lakh actually appeared.
School and Mass Education Secretary Bishnupada Sethi has written to all district education officers (DEOs), asking them to probe the large-scale absenteeism of students in their respective districts. The DEOs have also been directed to conduct a school-wise analysis for their districts and submit a report within 10 days.
The maximum absentees were recorded from Mayurbhanj, Ganjam and Bolangir districts.
The HSC exams, conducted by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), began on April 30 and were conducted across 3,540 centres in the state. In 2021, only 4,412 students had missed the exam.
“The absenteeism of thousands of candidates from the HSC exam this year is definitely a matter of concern. The DEOs have been asked to submit a report on the school-wise analysis of absenteeism in their respective districts and update the same in a Google Form,” Sethi said.
“Students’ studies were severely affected due to Covid-19 pandemic. They may have dropped out of the examination due to lack of preparation,” said Odisha School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash. This year, Dash pointed out, the state government had waived the examination fee for matric students in view of the Covid situation.
Meanwhile, the Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) has also taken a suo-motu cognizance of the large-scale absence of students in the HSC exams and has asked the director of secondary education and BSE to look into the matter and furnish a report this week.
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