Bhaderwah: The bi-annual board examination of Class 12 students started on Monday in the winter zone Jammu with all the students and invigilators subjected to Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) here before being allowed entry into the examination centres, officials said.
This was the first offline examination being conducted by the J&K Board of School Education Department (JKBOSE) in the winter zone of Jammu, comprising several districts including Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban.
The bi-annual examination of Class 10 is scheduled to start in the winter zone on Tuesday. While the Class 12 examination is scheduled to end on September 22, the matriculation examination of private students will conclude a day earlier.
The schools in snow-bound areas of Kashmir and parts of Jammu fall in the category of winter zone, while the rest of the areas falling in the Jammu province are covered under the summer zone.
“To ensure safety of the students participating in board exams physically for the first time in two years in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, the authorities decided to go for RAT of all students and invigilators before allowing them entry into the examination halls,” Nodal Officer, Covid Control room, Rana Arif was quoted as saying by PTI.
A total of 126 students, including 52 girls, appeared in the first paper of education subject at different centres set up at government girls higher secondary and boys higher secondary schools and their RAT report returned negative, Arif said.
He said a total of 2,274 private students are appearing for Class 12 examinations across Doda district. Among them, 1,138 are enrolled in additional district Bhaderwah.
Likewise, 1,190 private students are taking part in the Class 10 bi-annual examination and 417 among them are in Bhaderwah, he said, adding 96 examination centres have been set up to ensure smooth conduct of the examination in the district with focus on social distancing and Covid-appropriate behaviour.
The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic last year forced suspension of the physical classes and exams in all the schools across J&K. However, the studies and the examination continued through virtual mode.
After aggressive vaccination drives and strict implementation of all SOPs which resulted in containing the spread of pandemic to a large extent, the administration allowed JKBOSE to conduct bi-annual exams of Classes 10 and 12 students.
Nodal Officer (Examination) Aarif Haleem Khateeb said additional district administration Bhaderwah decided to conduct RAT of all the students besides ensuring Covid-appropriate behavior in the examination halls for the safety of the students and invigilators.
“All the students cooperated and happily volunteered themselves for the necessary RAT. We are happy to inform you that all the students turned negative in the RAT and appeared in the examination in a safe environment without any stress or fear of getting infected,” the officer said.
Students also expressed their happiness over the conduct of the offline examination amid all necessary measures.
“We are feeling great after returning to our school to appear physically in the examinations. We missed our school environment terribly and are thankful to authorities for letting us return to our institute,” Sangeeta Bhagat, a student of Class 12, said. (With PTI inputs)
