The Andhra Pradesh government has announced the schedule for class 10 SSC (Secondary School Certificate) exams, which were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exams will now be conducted from July 10 to 15, from 9.30 am to 12.45 pm.
Usually, the SSC exams require students to appear for 11 papers. Due to COVID-19, the number of papers have been cut down to six. Earlier, students had to write 5 language papers, 2 mathematics, 2 science and 2 social studies papers. They will now have to give only 6 exams - First Language, Second Language, English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies, in that order, from July 10 to 15. Each paper will be for 100 marks.
State Minister for Education Audimulapu Suresh said that the Oriental SSC and Vocational SSC papers will be held on July 16 and 17. “In view of COVID-19, it is not safe for students to venture out too many times, to go to exam centres. To prevent that, the exam schedule has been shortened from 11 to six papers. Details of exam centres and sample questions papers will be revealed soon,” he said.
He also said that District Collectors, District Education Officers and other officials of the Education Department have been asked to identify additional centres, outside of containment zones, so that the exams can be held with enough physical distancing in the seating arrangements.
Important information regarding the location of exam centres, hall tickets, transport facilities, etc will be relayed through broadcast media as well as social media, he said.
Exams for class 10 were earlier scheduled to be held at the end of March. After the nationwide lockdown was announced, the state government announced that exams for classes 6 to 9 would be cancelled and all students would be promoted to the next grade. Exams for classes 1 to 5 had already been conducted.