Telugu as a medium of instruction at school level has lost its appeal despite introducing Telugu as mandatory language in all government, private and government aided schools from classes 1 to 10. The number of students appearing for SSC examinations in Telugu medium from Friday has dropped sharply by 1.33 lakh as compared to the statistics of 2011-12.
There has been a corresponding increase in the number of students opting for English as a medium of test. However, the number of regular candidates appearing for the examination in Telugu medium marginally exceeds those taking the examination in English by 11 per cent.
“In a few years, nearly 80 per cent students will appear for the examination in English medium if the present trend continues,” B. Manmadha Reddy, director of government examinations has said.
Speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday regarding the pattern for SSC examinations, he said nearly 12.04 lakh students will sit for the SSC examination this year in regular and private categories, a dip over last year’s 12.8 lakh candidates.The examinations scheduled to begin from March 22 for general category and April 8 and 9 for vocational courses will be conducted across 5,646 centres in the state. The results are likely to be declared after May 20, he said.
The director has asserted that APTransco has been instructed to provide uninterrupted power supply during the examination between 9.30 am and 12 noon. APSRTC has also been instructed to ply sufficient number of buses for the candidates. “Around 250 centres were overlooked this year for lack of sufficient infrastructure such as benches. Some schools which will serve as the centres and do not have the necessary infrastructure have been instructed to hire the same,” the director said. This year 300 flying squads as well as four special flying squads have been appointed. Action will be taken against staff and students indulging in malpractices during the examination. “In case of category-C sensitive centres, an additional escort would be provided to accompany the police vehicle and sitting squad to transfer the question papers,” Manmadha Reddy said.
Nearly 965 centres across the state have been identified under C-category.
Photocopy service centres around the exam centres will also be closed down at the time of exam, he said.
Students will not be allowed into the examination centre 15 minutes after the commencement of the examination especially those travelling in vehicles arranged by the school.
Numbering machines have been provided to the invigilators to mark the main answer scripts and graphs.
The OMR sheets will be marked with a sticker instead of stapling them this year to record the candidate details.
Those appearing for the examination using hall-tickets downloaded from www.bseap.org website will be verified by the chief superintendent.