File picture of students taking higher secondary examination

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 27: The school and mass education department has decided to go the online way for the 2016 matriculation exams.

Students of Class IX in government high schools will have to register online to be able to appear for the annual HSC exam 2016 instead of the manual process of filling up of forms.

Around 9,000 schools with 6.5 lakh students will be registering online. Senior teachers trained for the purpose would carry out the registrations at the respective schools.

The move is aimed to save time and hassles during registrations besides bringing in efficiency and transparency in the system. The move will also introduce the students to the importance of technology at an early age, said officials in the department.

For the smooth conduct of the process, the Board of Secondary Education will identify e-vidyalayas with fast Internet facilities. The Internet facilities available at the block research co-ordinators, block education officers, district project coordinators and district education officers will be utilised for the purpose. Internet kiosks promoted by the IT department will also be available in various places.

The district education officers have been asked to start tagging the number of schools to the nearest Internet facility so that the registration is completed in time and without problems. This information will be notified by the board and then intimated to the schools and Internet centres.

“We have also requested the Odisha Knowledge Corporation Limited to extend support with their human resources at e-vidyalayas and places where fast Internet facility and school coordinators are present,” said a senior official in the board.

“We will have a detailed discussion with Odisha Knowledge Corporation Limited on how to introduce the system smoothly,” he said.

The board has also decided to open at least three helplines to provide online support to the schools.