The Office of the Controller of Examinations (OCE), Sanothimi, has completed all preparations for this year’s School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations, scheduled to begin on Thursday.

According to the OCE, question papers and answer sheets have been dispatched to police stations nearest to all the examination centres across the country. A total of 547,165 students—430,097 under the regular category and 117,068 under exempted—will be appearing for the 79th iteration of the exams. The OCE has allocated 1,786 centres across the country with the highest number, 86, in Kathmandu district. Manang and Mustang, with 78 and 113 students respectively, have just one centre each. “All preparations are complete. We are now waiting for Thursday,” Examination Controller Khag Raj Baral told an interaction organised by the Education Journalist Network here on Tuesday.

The OCE has mobilised 1,786 superintendents, 2,655 assistant superintendents, 21,890 invigilators, 7,297 office helpers and 19,860 security personnel across the country to facilitate the examinations.

Over 10 million question papers for 83 different subjects have been readied for the exam, which will conclude on March 23. Over Rs 280 million is being invested in the SLC, from conducting the exams to publishing the results. The number of students sitting the exams has increased by around 50,000 this year, compared to the 497,000 students last year.

According to Baral, the number is likely to go down as students with double registration and those with less than 70 percent class attendance will be rendered ineligible. The OCE has found 344 students with double registration this year. However, it has yet to receive details of students with less than 70 percent attendance. This year, the OCE has also formed an experts’ team for each subjects, which will immediately correct questions papers if errors are found.

Corrections made can be accessed within 30 minutes after the examination begins by calling 161-801-663-1146. The three-hour exams begin at 8 am.

“Security, privacy and fairness have been given utmost priority,” said Education Minister Dina Nath Sharma. “This years’ examination will set an example.” The SLC Examination Board has adopted tough measures to ensure that the exams are fair. The Board will lodge public offence cases against parents who encourage their wards to adopt unfair means, while teachers, officials and security personnel found to be involved in such practices will be booked under the Education Act 1971. Those who adopt 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, while 14 joint secretaries have been deployed to each zone to make sure the examinations are sucessfully held.

Minister Sharma said the “real” knowledge of students will be tested this year as the government has implemented a complete ban on ‘guess papers’. The District Administration Office, Kathmandu, seized hundreds of SLC and Plus Two exam ‘guess papers’ and sealed the godowns of two publications two weeks ago.

Temp teachers to boycott exams
The Temporary Teachers’ Struggle Committee has decided to boycott this year’s SLC exams . During a press conference on Monday, the committee claimed that it opted for non-cooperation as the government never showed interest in addressing its demands.

The Committee has put forth dozens of demands, including permanent status for temporary teachers through internal competition, appointment letters to teachers, salary on par with counterparts who enjoy permanent status and reinstatement or compensation for teachers affected by the conflict. Around 20,000 temporary teachers are working in around 32,000 community schools across the country.

source: The Kathmandu Post,13 March 2013