VIJAYAWADA: The evaluation of answer scripts for the Intermediate examinations began at 25 centres across Andhra Pradesh. The evaluations, which are to be conducted by approximately 23,000 evaluators, will continue up to April 4, informed Principal Secretary (school education) Praveen Prakash and added that each evaluator at every centre is tasked with evaluating 30 answer scripts per day, contributing to the overall effort to assess around 60 lakh answer scripts.
On the occasion, he also informed that the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations commenced at 3,473 examination centres across the State. “The exam centres are being overseen by Chief Superintendents and Departmental Officers, ensuring a standardised and impartial examination process. The enhancements to the examination centres include 100% bench seating, RO plants for drinking water, high-end toilets, tube lights, and other facilities,” the principal secretary said. Stating that a total of 30,234 rooms are made available to accommodate 7,25,618 students registered for the exam, he said around 35,119 invigilators are monitoring the proceedings besides 156 flying squads and 682 sitting squads are ensuring the integrity of the exam.
He said, “To protect the dignity and sanctity of the exams, every page of each question paper now includes a unique QR code on the top but also a water-marked code in Webding font, allowing for real-time tracking and identification of malpractice source.”
Mentioning the re-enrolled students, the Principal Secretary said the State has introduced a new policy where students who failed in the previous year’s exams have been re-enrolled as regular students, with 1,125 such students appearing for the this year’s exams. Their marks will be considered on a subject-wise basis, selecting the best of both years’ marks, a policy aimed at removing the distinction between students who failed and those who passed in the mark sheets, he concluded.
Audio question papers for visually impaired
Andhra Pradesh has taken an innovative step by providing audio question papers to visually impaired students appearing for the SSC exam, being the only State in the country to do so on a pilot basis. This year, 12 children with special needs are using this facility, with plans to extend it to all students with special needs in the future