VIJAYAWADA: The State government has decided not to increase the examination fee for the students appearing for SSC and Intermediate public examinations for the academic year 2020-21 keeping in view the financial crisis due to Covid-19, said Education Minister Audimulapu Suresh.
He released the SSC examination schedule here on Wednesday. As per the schedule, SSC examinations will be held from June 7 to 16. The exam dates are common for regular, private, OSSC and vocational candidates. The exams will be held from 9:30 am to 12:45 pm.
The exams will be held for seven subjects and of which three are language papers, two group subjects and two science papers. Exams for all the subjects, except science papers, will be held for 100 marks each. Spot valuation of answer sheets will be conducted from June 17 to 26.
Speaking to the media at the Interim Government Complex at Velagapudi, Suresh said the government used to increase the SSC examination fee every year. However, the exam fee has not been increased this year in view of Covid-19 crisis. The fee structure of the previous academic year will be followed this year also. The exam fee will be `490, application fee `10 and practicals fee `190.
Considering the shortened academic year due to Covid, the SSC syllabus has been reduced by 35 per cent. The examinations will be held as per the updated syllabus, the Education Minister said.
The last working day for SSC students for the current academic year will be June 5, the minister said.
Similarly, the annual examinations for students studying classes 1 to 9 will be held from May 3 to 10. The last working day for schools will be May 15. The summer vacation for school students will be from May 16 to June 30, while the new academic year will begin on July 1, he said.
The Education Minister further said Intermediate students of the previous academic year, who were just awarded pass marks due to Covid, can now appear for betterment. They can either appear for all the subjects or only selected subjects, the minister added.