HSC evaluation from May 1 under tight security

BHUBANESWAR: The theft of question papers, which led to rescheduling of the annual High School Certificate (HSC) examination, has prompted the School and Mass Education Department to take foolproof measures during evaluation process. The Department has ordered round-the-clock security around all the 71 evaluation centres across the State. The evaluation of answer sheets is scheduled to begin on Tuesday. In a letter to all collectors and SPs, Secretary of the Department Rajesh Verma directed that constables and home guards be deployed at each evaluation centre in their respective districts 24x7 till the exercise is complete and the answer sheets are sent back to the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) in Cuttack. ‘’Keeping in view the unprecedented incident of burglary of question papers at Bhagabati Bidyapitha, Bajapur in Puri District, the annual HSC examination process was disrupted and it had to be rescheduled. The rescheduled examination has been completed on April 26,’’ Verma said in the letter. The Board is faced with a tough task since the evaluation work is to be taken up on a war-footing because results are to be declared by June-end or at the most in first week of July to complete the admissions on time. “There is a tight schedule for the whole exercise. It is, therefore, necessary to take all precautionary measures to ensure safety and security of answer sheets at all the valuation centres,’’ he pointed out. Although the Department has appointed supervisors and other staff for the valuation centres, the arrangement has to be supplemented by deployment of police at all the centres as an additional layer of security. Cuttack district has the highest number of evaluation centres __ six followed by Balasore and Ganjam __ five each. This year’s HSC examination was dogged by controversies. Apart from that tragedy struck the exam in the form of a spate of mishaps. While the theft of question papers is being probed by the Crime Branch which has announced a reward of  Rs 2 lakh for information on the matter, a number of road mishaps claimed lives of several examinees. In separate cases, at least 11 students were killed across the State __ five in Nayagarh alone earlier last week. The accidents have prompted a call for review of the distance criterion for examination centres.