Mysore/Mysuru: Second PUC exams began across the State this morning with several thousands of students appearing for examinations at 49 centres in Mysuru district alone.

A total of 34,826 students have enrolled for the exams in Mysuru including freshers, repeaters and those who have taken up exams privately.

Students from 261 PU colleges in the district took up the exam, with Kannada and Arabic papers being the first ones scheduled for today (Mar. 1). The exam will conclude on Mar. 22 with the Hindi paper. All centres and exam halls are equipped with CCTV camera surveillance.

In Mysuru district, the exams began at 49 centres, out of which 26 are located in Mysuru city alone. Other centres in the district include 3 each in H.D. Kote and K.R. Nagar, 4 each in Hunsur, Periyapatna & T. Narasipur and 5 in Nanjangud.

According to the Deputy Director of PU Education (DDPUE) of Mysuru, M. Mariswamy, a total of 34,826 students will be appearing for the exam in the district, comprising 31,628 regular students, 1,332 private students and 1,866 repeaters.

Notably, girls outnumber boys, with 14,050 boys and 17,578 girls among the regular students.

The Science stream has the highest number of students (13,982), followed by Commerce (10,679) and Arts (6,967). There is an exam centre within every 10-15 kilometres in the district. Question papers were dispatched from the District headquarters to the centres through 10 specified routes under the guidance of the Deputy Commissioner (DC).

Ban orders were enforced within a 200-metre radius around all exam centres on all exam dates and photocopy shops near the centres have been instructed to remain closed. Adequate Police personnel were deployed to ensure the exam proceeds without any disruptions.

There was tight Police security as the question papers were moved in GPS-fitted vehicles from the District headquarters to various exam centres and Taluk headquarters early this morning and they were videographed.

The vans were asked to reach the designated places without stopping anywhere before the questions papers reach the examination centres. Students reached the centres 45 minutes before the examinations commenced and many were seen being accompanied by their parents or other family members. Parents were seen giving last-minute tips to their wards and instilling confidence in them at the centres ahead of the exam.

Flying squads with the DDPUE, Principals, Tahsildars and Block Education Officers (BEOs) heading each squad are moving from centre to centre to check for malpractices or any untoward incidents. However, no such incidents were reported at any centres today.

Each examination centre is provided with drinking water facilities. Mobile phones or any other electronic device is not allowed, except for calculators.