Kathmandu, February 27:

Preparations for the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations, which are slated for March 27, are almost complete, deputy controller at the Office of the Controller of Examinations (OCE), Bharat Nepali, said today. According to the OCE, about 3.4 lakh students will give the examinations this year.

There will be around 1,000 examination centres and they will be manned by an equal number of superintendents.

“Keeping in mind the increase in the number of examinees, we are planning to set up 50 more exam centres,” Nepali said.

“Preparations for conducting the examinations are almost complete,” Nepali said, adding: “The OCE is doing its level best to make sure bandhs and blockades do not affect the students.” The Maoists have called a month-long blockades from April 3. The practical examinations fall within the period of blockade. The students had faced a similar situation last year.

A total of 4.07 lakh students have filled the registration form in grade nine for the SLC examinations this year. Altogether 946 examination centres were set last year for the conduct of the SLC examinations.

With the aim of ensuring security at the centres and arranging accessible examination centres for the students, the OCE has asked the districts to give it the list of schools, Nepali said.

As the OCE is making drastic changes in the marking system, the OCE hopes to see an overall improvement in results this year.

Starting this year, the OCE is following the suggestions given by a SLC study team of giving 300 copies to each teacher for marking. Earlier, an examiner used to check a maximum of 1,000 copies.

What’s new ?

• Fifty more exam centres to be set up this year

• The centres will be made more accessible to students

• Unlike in previous years, a teacher will mark only 300 copies