SURPRISE INSPECTIONS TO BE CONDUCTED IN BMC SCHOOLS AS PREP CHECK FOR BOARD EXAMS Education dept assigns Beat Officers to ensure Class X students, school authorities are ready for the examinations

For the first time, surprise inspections are being initiated in all Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools to check their preparation for the upcoming Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board exams. These inspections will ensure if both Class X students and school authorities are ready for the exam and are aware about all necessary methods and procedures.

The civic education department has assigned education Beat Officers (BO) and Administrative Officers (AO) to conduct this inspection in schools of respective areas. These checks will make sure if students know how to fill details like seat number, question paper (QP) code, centre number, subject name and paste the barcode sticker accurately on the answer booklet as students will do it for the first time.

This move has come as the BMC received several complaints from schools stating students were clueless about basic steps. Prakash Charate, BMC education officer, said, “In these checks, officers are asking students randomly if they know how to fill this information. We are also checking with students if they are aware about various processes involved in scanning of answer booklets to avoid any errors. If students are not aware then we will educate them about the same at that moment itself.”

The surprise inspections are also initiated to check if schools have made necessary arrangements like benches marked with appropriate seat numbers, provision for water and electricity supply and availability of space to accommodate students. “Often students of other standards remove or scribble the seat numbers marked on benches. We will check if the benches are marked accurately so that no time is wasted in any kind of confusion during the day of examination,” Charate added.

School authorities claimed the checks have been initiated well before the examination time as the examinations are starting from March 1. Shraddha Kale, a teacher said, “The examinations are starting in March and we will conduct the preliminary examinations now. It is good that these checks are being conducted now so that we get sufficient time to work on various drawbacks and can prepare well.”