Bengaluru: Even as the State Government is in a dual mind on conducting Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) Examination next month, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been released for teachers and students.

Releasing the SOP here on Wednesday, Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar said it was mandatory for all the examination centres to strictly follow it without fail. In each classroom, there will be only 12 students with one student per desk in order to maintain social distancing.

 Along with thermal screening, students will also have their oxygen level tested with the help of oximeters. Only if their saturation level is above 94, they will be allowed to write the examination. The SOP mandated sanitising the exam halls, furniture and toilets daily by spraying disinfectant solution before and after the exam. The students are barred from crowding at the examination centres.

He said in the rural areas, arrangements should be made to ensure that the test centres should be created in a manner that students need not go to the taluk-level to appear for the exam.

 Vaccinating the teachers, staff and officials involved in conducting the examination with the co-operation of the district administration is compulsory. They must get at least a dose of the vaccine before the exams.

Two rooms reserved

The Minister said two rooms should be reserved for candidates suffering from cough, common cold and flu. There should be a thermal scanner, pulse oximeter, first-aid boxes and hand sanitisers at the entrance. Students would be given masks at the entrance of the health counters in the exam halls. Also, ambulances would be kept ready in each taluk exclusively for those writing the examination.

COVID Care Centre

Suresh Kumar said there would also be a COVID Care Centre for those COVID-positive students to write the exam. If anyone in the family is infected and the candidate is in isolation and is found to be healthy, he or she would be allowed to write the test at the nearby COVID Care Centre after testing the student. 

Unlike other States, the State Government decided to conduct the exam in two phases where objective type questions would be asked. The Government said the 10th exam cannot be avoided as it is crucial to decide the stream in which a student should study. 

Last year, the Government had successfully conducted the SSLC exams despite the fear expressed by the Opposition parties and experts, he added.