KATHMANDU, April 29: A total of 428,052 students are sitting for this year’s Grade 12 exams, the final school-level examinations known as School Leaving Certificate Examinations (SLCE) which began across the country on Sunday.
After the end of the decades-long practice of conducting School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exams in Grade 10, it is the second consecutive year of SLCE being conducted in Grade 12.
This year’s final exams of grade XII began at 7 am Sunday across the country. The exams will conclude on May 9. Altogether 428,052 students including regular, partial and grade upgrading students are taking the exams at 1,107 exam centers, according to the National Examinations Board (NEB). A total of 34,690 human resources including security personnel have been deployed to conduct the SLCE.
SLCE for 12th graders from April 23
According to the NEB, there are 197 exam centers in Province 1; 115 in Province 2; 303 in Province 3; 118 in Province 4; 162 in Province 5; 93 in Province 6; and 119 in Province 7 to conduct the SLCE.
Durga Prasad Aryal, member secretary at the NEB, informed Republica that while Kathmandu district has the highest number of SLCE examinees - 62,588 - mountain district Manang has only 59 students. “Special arrangements have been made for those students with hearing and visual impairment and other disabilities,” Aryal said.
Similarly, the NEB has made every preparation for the inmates to take the SLCE, installing CCTV cameras for efficient surveillance. Exam center superintendents have been barred from carrying cell phones in jails or correction centers cordoned by police personnel while supplying the question papers.
The exams were conducted peacefully and fairly on Sunday across the country, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
Meanwhile, all preparations for Grade XI final exams being held on May 12-22 have been completed, according to the NEB.
Of the total 936,546 students in Grades 11 and 12, altogether 493,549 are girls while 442,997 are boys. “The students can check their status and details of registration, symbol number and other information online from this year though the practice was partially launched last year,” said NEB Member Secretary Aryal. “We have also set up standby control room from this year for security purposes,” he added. “If the question papers have errors, all centers will be sent correction messages (SMS).”
