The first batch of English medium students from schools run by zilla parishads and state government will be appearing for the SSC public exams which will be held from March 22 to April 9. This year,there is a 14 per cent increase in the number of English medium students appearing for the examinations,officials said. Every year this number rises by around three to five per cent due to increase in the number of students in private schools as also because of opening of new ones, said Manmadha Reddy Banala,director of government exams.

This time,however,the figure has risen by an unprecedented 14 per cent,of which only four per cent comprises private school students.The remaining 10 per cent are the students from ZP,municipal and government schools where English medium sections were introduced around five years ago, he added.
In the academic year 2008-09,English medium sections in about 12,000 government schools were introduced from class VI onwards.Officials said with the first batch of students having now reached class X,there is a considerable increase in English medium candidates.This year a total of 12,04,201 candidates from more than 20,000 schools across the state will be appearing for the examinations which will be conducted from 9.30 am to 12 pm.Officials said all necessary arrangements have been made for smooth conduct of exams. The rise in English medium students resulted in many logistical issues which needed to be addressed and we had a tough time making all necessary arrangements, Reddy admitted.He,however,assured that sufficient number of question papers,main and additional answer booklets,etc have been sent to all the 5,646 centres in the state.

He also said around 300 schools,most of which are in the Rayalseema region,do not have proper furniture and the respective district educational officers have been instructed to either source furniture from nearby schools or rent them. Officials said strict instructions have been given to the chief superintendents of the exam centres to ensure that only the Set One question papers are distributed after verifying the date and paper code. Reddy said Set Two papers were not to be opened and strict action would be taken against the staff engaging in case of violation.In Karimnagar and Kadapa,instances of some employees opening Set Two question papers were reported.We are trying to ensure that such incidents do not happen this time, he said.

Officials also added that 300 flying squads including four special squads from the directors office have been constituted to curb cheating and other malpractice by students and warned of severe punishment for such acts as per GO 872. Meanwhile,postal and electricity departments and APSRTC have been instructed to cooperate and ensure smooth conduct of the examinations. The medical and health department too has been asked to deploy medical teams to meet any emergencies tres along with necessary medications in case of emergencies,while collectors too have been instructed to enforce Section 144 around centres and close all photo copy centres in the vicinity during the exam timings. Students are advised not to carry mobile phones and calculators while going for the exam.

With the SSC examinations scheduled to begin from Friday,Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has decided to operate 125 additional buses in the Greater Hyderabad zone.
These special buses,which would display SSC Examination Special on their windshields,would ply from March 22 to April 9 from various locations in the city.APSRTC staff would be posted at all important bus stops to assist students and help them reach the examination centres.