File picture of students writing an exam

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 19: Officials of the Council of Higher Secondary Education today vetted the proposed reforms for Plus Two exams. They are likely to submit a list of recommendations to the state government tomorrow to plug possible loopholes.

“We will meet higher education authorities to discuss difficulties linked to certain reform measures. Rules say the 200 colleges, which will double up as exam management hubs to store question papers, have to be located near police stations. But, it may not be feasible in every case,” said a council official.

The state government has entrusted the responsibility of selecting the exam management hubs to council chairman Basudev Chhatoi. Other exam centres will be tagged to these hubs.

The council will dispatch the question papers to the hubs two days before each exam. It will then be sent to individual centres on the exam day between 7am and 9am. “However, it may not be possible to stick to that time limit. We will suggest alternative arrangements to deliver the question booklets. But, it may not take place within 7am and 9am,” said an official.

The officials will also suggest holding exams across all streams simultaneously to thwart question leak. According to the practice, science and commerce papers are held in the first sitting, while arts exams are scheduled for the second sitting.

From next year, a 32-page answer booklet will be provided to the examinees, while no additional sheet will be given during exams. Further, a single set of question paper having four series — A, B, C and D — will be prepared and the questions will be jumbled to make malpractice through prompting difficult.

The answer scripts of candidates scoring above 90 per cent marks as well as below 25 per cent will be re-examined. A committee, headed by the director of the higher education department, will form the inspection squads.

The higher education department has also invited suggestions from various quarters to streamline the examination system of the 32 autonomous colleges in the state. The last date for submission of suggestions is September 5.