Failed SSC students of Andhra Pradesh to get second shot at clearing exam

ANANTAPUR: The Andhra Pradesh government will conduct exams within a month for all students who did not clear the SSC examination, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced on Tuesday.

Addressing a gathering at the launch of YSR Free Crop Insurance Scheme in Sri Sathya Sai district, Jagan said this was a second chance for pupils to pass the exam like regular students. "We have removed supplementary and compartmental options and are giving the students another opportunity to write exams like regular students," the chief minister explained.

Pointing out that students did not appear for any exams for two academic years due to the Covid pandemic, Jagan noted that 67 pass percentage in Andhra Pradesh was still higher than that of Gujarat, where only 65 per cent of the students cleared the exam. 

Of the six lakh students who had appeared for the SSC exam, over two lakh failed. Only 67.26 per cent students passed the exam, the lowest in almost two decades. Jagan lambasted the Opposition TDP and Jana Sena for criticising every initiative taken up by the State government. 

Jagan alleged that the Opposition had been demoralising the students who failed even as the government is working towards strengthening the education sector.

He was critical of TDP, its chief N Chandrababu Naidu and his 'foster son' Pawan Kalyan for deliberately taking up a malicious propaganda to mislead the public. "They don’t have any moral right to continue in politics," he lambasted. 

Referring to Pawan Kalyan, the CM said the JSP chief could not show a single family of farmers with Pattadar passbook who lost a breadwinner and did not receive compensation from the government. He asserted that the government was also paying Rs 7 lakh aid to the families of the tenant farmers with Crop Cultivator Rights Cards (CCRC). 

In April, the JSP chief had toured Anantapur and other districts to console the families of tenant farmers, who had committed suicide, and extend aid to those who did not receive any financial aid from the government. "Why did Pawan Kalyan not volunteer to visit the families of the farmers who ended their lives during TDP’s tenure," Jagan questioned.

Blaming the two parties for the violence that erupted in Amalapuram town in May, the CM alleged, "Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan are even politicising the renaming of Konaseema district after BR Ambedkar."

Asserting that the YSRC is the only party that ensures social justice, he recalled that the violent mob had attacked the residence of a Dalit minister and a BC MLA.

Referring to the crop holiday declared by farmers in Konaseema, Jagan said unlike the previous TDP government that failed to credit the money for paddy procurement to the farmers, his government was crediting the amount within 21 days of the procurement process.