Ruled answer sheets will be introduced in Plus Two exams to reduce wastage of paper and help students write smaller and neater. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 14: The council of higher secondary education (CHSE) has, for the first time, introduced ruled answer sheets for the upcoming Plus Two exams. This is to ensure that students’ handwriting gets smaller and neater.

The authorities feel this would also check the unnecessary use of additional sheets. The council has also decided to number all the papers in the sheet in the set to check manipulation at any stage.

“It has been seen that many students write in large handwriting just to fill up the paper and take additional sheets. Ruled answer sheets would put a stop to this habit. About 15 lakh answer sheets are printed every year, out of which 13 lakh are used. This time, we expect that fewer answer sheets will be used. This will not only check the wastage of paper, but will also be cost-effective,” said CHSE chairman Nihar Ranjan Patnaik. He added that the council has also decided to tighten its mechanism of evaluation and coding of answer scripts.

The annual higher secondary examinations will begin on March 2 and will continue till March 27. The practical sessions will be held from March 24 to April 2.

Examinations will be held at 1,065 centres across the state. While Cuttack has the maximum centres, which is 72, Boudh has the fewest at nine. Students of 174 self-financing Plus Two colleges will appear for the exams in these centres.

The authorities at all the centres have been asked to make provisions for proper drinking water and comfortable seating arrangements for the candidates on the exam days. Around 2.79 lakh students will appear at the Plus Two exams this year, which is about 25,000 students more than last year. While 1.75 lakh candidates are from the arts stream, 25,329 are from commerce, 70,027 from science and 8,380 students from vocational education.

This figure includes 289 private examinees and 1,023 correspondence examinees. The council, however, has decided to do away with the “private system”. There will only be the ex-regular category next year onwards, said controller of examinations of CHSE Jasobanta Behera.

To check the tampering of answer scripts and maintain secrecy, the answer sheets this time would be despatched to 10 “collection zones” in the state.

“This would put a stop to tampering of manuscripts. Earlier, tracking of answer sheets was very easy and there used to be enough scope for manipulation. However, we are taking necessary steps to restrict this,” said Behera.

This is one of the several initiatives being taken by the council in bringing about reforms in Plus Two exams.