No Covid case due to lapse at exam centres: Kumar

No Covid case due to lapse at exam centres: Kumar

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: 29.06.2020

At least two SSLC candidates have tested positive for coronavirus in Karnataka, but S Suresh Kumar, minister for primary and secondary education, defended the state government’s decision to conduct exams, saying no case had resulted from any safety lapse at test centres. Amid growing calls that the remaining papers should be called off, Kumar told TOI that the government had decided to conduct the exams in the interest of students.

With Covid-19 cases rising and some students testing positive, are you rethinking the rest of the exams?

Let me make it clear: no student has turned positive because of a lack of security [safety] measures at exam centres. As for the isolated cases, we will go by what the health department asks us to do. We resolved to conduct the SSLC examinations only in the best interest of students. Three papers are already over and they were incident-free. Only four to go.

Parents are worried as cases are being reported from within centres.

We have over 3,300 centres across Karnataka, out of which, after three days, one incident has come to light in a district. All the 18 children who wrote the exam with the boy and the invigilator have tested negative. The infected student, who underwent random testing for Covid-19 when he was suspected to have dengue fever earlier, is also learnt to be quite stable. There is no need for any parent to be worried as the foolproof system we put in place won’t allow any transmission.

What extra precautions are being taken now?

SOPs are being strictly adhered to. In the light of Saturday’s incident [a student testing positive], we have received clear communication from the health department that since all security measures are in place, other students in any exam hall cannot be considered as contacts... The health department has even cited the precedent of a primary contact of a Covid-19 patient facing the exams and remaining healthy.

Authorities have been unable to keep a tab on swabbed students.

Over 25 students have been identified by the health department as Covid-19 positive and they have been denied permission to appear for exams for now. We will continue to have the best identification and correction mechanism in place.

Why is the state conducting exams with so much risk?

Let me make it very clear. It is not a question of prestige for us to conduct these exams. I believe we don’t have the right to demean the enthusiasm shown by parents and children. I am saying this after meeting thousands of children and parents.

STUDENT TESTS POSITIVE IN UDUPI

A student who appeared for Saturday’s SSLC exam at a centre in Padubidri, Udupi, has been diagnosed with Covid-19. Minister for primary and secondary education S Suresh Kumar said the student was tested after her father’s infection was confirmed. “The particular exam room has been sanitised, and it will not serve as the venue for the science paper,” he said.

18 CANDIDATES TEST NEGATIVE IN HASSAN

Eighteen SSLC candidates and an invigilator in Hassan, who shared the exam hall with a student with coronavirus infection, tested negative on Saturday in a huge relief for officials. The 18 candidates will appear for the next exam on Monday. The student stricken with Covid-19 wrote the paper at Mallipatna Government High School in Arkalgud, Hassan.