HASSAN: As Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) students are set to face exam in July, helping prepare them to attempt the paper in new pattern has become a daunting challenge for the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) officials.
Amid the pandemic-induced lockdown, students cannot be reached physically.
So far only 50% of SSLC students in Hassan district have been trained on the new exam pattern with the help of quiz sessions conducted virtually.
The online sessions remain inaccessible to the remaining half.
DPI officials feel this could affect the Hassan’s performance in the exam as it is in the top 10 districts currently.
In 2018-19, the district attained top position in SSLC results in the state.
In the next academic year, the position slipped to 8th place.
“By the end of first week of this month, teachers concerned had begun conducting online quiz sessions in their class hours to prepare students to face objective-type questions.
As many as 20,840 students, including repeaters, will appear for SSLC examination this year.
Earlier, 90 centres were identified to conduct the examination with 20 students each in a hall, but now due to lockdown norms, the centres have been increased to 127 with 12 students each in a hall,” said DDPI KS Prakash.
“Only 50% of the total SSLC students could be reached by teachers.
Others do not have access to internet or smartphones.
After the lockdown is lifted, the remaining students will be given worksheets that will familiarise them with the new pattern,” he added.
“The onset of monsoon has made it worse.
With poor network connectivity, students from rural areas are struggling to attend classes.
DPI authorities must make arrangements to utilise the time left before the exams to train rural students,” said Manju, parent of an SSLC student.