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Matriculation candidates at DM Madan Girls’ High School
in Bistupur on Friday. Picture by Animesh Sengupta
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Matriculation and intermediate exams kicked off peacefully in Jamshedpur and across East Singhbhum on Friday, with no untoward incident reported from anywhere even as the statewide strike of non-teaching college staff continued.
While the matriculation exam began at 9.45am with 15 minutes of reading time allotted to students, its intermediate counterpart started at 2pm.
In all, 26,502 secondary-level and 21,439 intermediate students are appearing in East Singhbhum across 68 and 24 centres, respectively.
Matriculation examinees appeared for home science or commerce papers, while intermediate candidates answered either geology or sociology.
Matric candidates were satisfied with the paper on the first day. “The commerce paper was easy. I think I will fetch good marks,” said Geeta Singh, an examinee at DM Madan Girls’ School, Bistupur.
Invigilators on duty said that they had not received any complaints today.
Intermediate exams, too, were held smoothly on the first day, with college authorities engaging teachers to fill in for striking non-teaching employees.
“Since the exam had to start, we somehow managed. There were 130 students at the centre today. So, teachers did not face much difficulty, but tomorrow there will be 900 examinees. We don’t know how we will deal with the situation,” said Veena Priyadarshi, a faculty member of Graduate School College for Women.
On a broader level, the board exams are a litmus test for Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) and the district education department.
East Singhbhum did not fare well in matric last year with a pass percentage of 63.91.
To improve the standard of teaching, schools were given model question papers prepared by teachers to help students practise adequately and get an idea of the exam pattern. Extra classes for weaker students were also held.
“We took several initiatives to help teachers and students. We hope for good results for both matriculation and intermediate this year,” said district education officer Ashok Kumar Sharma.
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