The Office of the Controller of Examinations (OCE), Sanothimi has finalised preparations for the forthcoming School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations.

A total of 547,165 students—430,097 under regular and 117,068 under the exempted category—will be appearing in the examination that is scheduled to kick off on March 14. The OCE has allocated 1,786

exam centres across the country with 86 in Kathmandu district alone. Manang and Mustang, with 78 and 113 students respectively, have just one centre each.

As many as 1,786 superintendents, 2,655 assistant superintendents, 21,890 invigilators, 7,297 office helpers and 19,860 security personnel will be mobilised across the country to facilitate the holding of examinations.

“We have completed 90 percent of our task and will leave no stone unturned for the successful completion of the exams,” said Examination Controller Khag Raj Baral at an interaction programme organised by the Education Journalists’ Network in the Capital on Wednesday.

Baral said that most answers sheets had already reached the respective district headquarters and that question papers have been dispatched to 69 districts. Over 10 million question papers of 54 different subjects have been readied for the 79th iteration of the SLC exam, that will take place over a span of 10 days.

The SLC Examination Board, led by the secretary of the Ministry of Education, has decided to adopt tough measures to ensure that exams are fair. The Board will lodge public offence cases against parents who encourage their wards to adopt unfair means in the exams, while teachers, officials and security personnel found to be involved in such practices will be booked under the Education Act 1971. Those who opt for unfair means and breach examination codes can be jailed for six months, face fines up to Rs 100,000 or both.

District-level examination coordination committees, led by the chief district officer with representation from all stakeholders, have also been formed in each district.

According to Deputy Examination Controller Prahlad Aryal, students found cheating will be rusticated from the exam and will not be allowed to sit for exams for the next year while those who employ duplicate and fake examinees will be rusticated for two years.

“Those found to have double registration will also be rusticated for a year,” said Aryal. He further informed that exam centre found to be facilitating foul play will be blacklisted and banned from acting as a exam centre in the future.

Over Rs 280 million has been allocated for the conduction of the SLC exam. The number of examinees was 497,000 last year and the participation has increased by 50,000 this year.

Huge haul of guess papers
The Kathmandu District Education Office, with support from the District Administration Office, seized hundreds of guess papers for the soon-to-be-held School Leaving Certificate exam and the Plus Two exam and sealed the godown of two publication houses on Tuesday.

A joint team of the two government entities raided three major publication houses—Neema Publication, Beena Pustak Bhandar and EMC Book Publication—and seized around 3,000 guess papers ready to be dispatched to retailers. The team also sealed the godowns of Beena and EMC publications.

According Kathmandu Chief District Officer Chuda Mani Sharma, all the guess papers will be destroyed and a written commitment will be sought from the publishers in the first phase. “There will be no legal action in the first phase if they [publishers] commit to not repeat the act,” said Sharma.

On December 4, the government had decided to ban guess papers and guide books meant for SLC and Plus Two students, arguing that such guides promote a ‘just-pass mentality’. The decision, according to government officials, was taken after a Ministry of Education evaluation found that readymade answer books were hampering the creativity of students.

According to Kathmandu District Education Officer Baikuntha Aryal, surprise checks will continue for the next month to enforce a total ban on the printing of books focussed on examinations. Those who repeatedly violate the ban will be booked under the Consumer Rights Protection Act and the Black Marketing Act.

Humla behind schedule
JAYA BAHADUR ROKAYA
Though the SLC examination is just a month away, most government schools in the district have yet to complete the course.

“Only two chapters of English and four chapters of Nepali, Social Studies and Maths each have been completed so far,” said Karma Fadera, student of the Laliguras Proposed Secondary School in Sarkideu, who is taking tuitions in the district headquarters to complete the remaining course.

“It is very difficult to cover the course, which was not completed in the whole year, in tuition classes for just two months,” he said.

He attributed the problem to teachers’ negligence and the school’s attempt to stop students from going to other schools for enrolment. “We even tried to go to another school. However, the school administration stopped us by not providing our academic certificates,” he said.

Many schools in the district have failed to complete the course in time. As a result, students are forced to enrol for tuitions or coaching classes by paying expensive fees. The SLC examination will start from March 14.

District Education Officer Kul Bahadur Fadera said almost all schools in the district have failed to complete the course in time. “Teachers’ negligence and the long winter vacation have created such problems,” he said.

He said he will call a meeting of headmasters, prepare an educational calendar and implement it soon after holding the examinations of Education Service Commission. He said his office will also monitor the implementation of the academic calendar in the next academic session. Government schools which were closed for the winter vacation are yet to resume classes.

source: The kathmandu post,21 Feb 2013