First day of SLC examinations passes off peacefully and ‘fairly’

Kathmandu, March 31

The first day of the School Leaving Certificate examinations passed off peacefully with students attending their English paper today.

According to Krishna Prasad Kapri, exam controller, Office of the Controller of the Examinations, the exam was held ‘fairly’ and peacefully in all the 1,943 exam centres across the country.

He said a total of nine invigilators and seven examinees were expelled from various exam centres outside the Kathmandu Valley.

OCE said a total of 615,553 examinees have registered for the examinations in regular and exempted category. However, some students remained absent in the exam today.

District education officers from Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur said the exam was held in peaceful way.

District Education Officer of Kathmandu, Shankar Gautam, said no examinee or invigilator was expelled today. Kathmandu district has the highest number of exam centers. It has 95 exam centres for 35,729 examinees.

Similarly, District Education Officer of Bhaktapur, Dinesh Shrestha, said  a total of 45 students were absent during the exam but no examinee was expelled. “The exam went off fairly in all exam centres,” he said.

Examinees were given only two hours and 15 minutes as they were writing the English paper for 75 marks only. They would have to take speaking test for the remaining 25 marks. They will sit for Nepali paper tomorrow.

Examinee faints in exam hall, fails to complete her English paper

Lalitpur, March 31

A student from Bright Star English School in Harisiddi Munincipality-30 fell unconscious when she was writing her English paper the at the SLC exam center in Harisiddhi Higher Secondary School today.

Asha Devi Maharjan, exam superintendent at SHSS, said Swastika Chaudhary fell unconscious an hour after the exam began. She said Chaudhary was immediately rushed to a health post near the school.

“Staffers at the health post administered her Jeevan Jal (rehydration formula). I told her to take rest to continue the exam after some time but her parents took her away without consulting the school authorities,” she said.

She informed that parents were in panic and they rushed her to Patan Hospital for further check-up.

Later, the parents came to the school at 10:45 when the exam was already over.

“Had the parents not rushed her to hospital in hurry, the examinee could have completed her exam,” she said, adding, “Such incidents occur every year as the students don’t take sufficient rest due to fear of exam.”

Disabled students complain of neglect

Kathmandu, March 31

Examinees with disabilities have complained that invigilators did not pay enough attention to them during the first day of the SLC examinations today.

Sujan Dhakal, a visually impaired examinee from Namuna Machhindra Secondary School, said there was no invigilator to assist disabled examinees at his exam centre Madan Smarak School in Pulchowk.

Dhakal was assisted by a scribe to write his paper and was kept in a separate examination hall. “When I completed my paper, there was no invigilator in the room. So I went to the other room to hand over my answer sheets,” he said.

Meanwhile, two differently-abled students were kept in the same hall with other examinees at Bhaktapur-based Everest English School exam centre.

Ganga Maya Kasalawat, a cerebal palsy patient from Jaycees English School, and Haresh Chaudhary from Suryabinayak English School were kept in the same room with other examinees.

Ganga Maya was assisted by her writer while Haresh was writing his paper himself. Haresh said he was often distracted when Ganga Maya dictated answers to her scribe.