Amid violence, Manipur sees drop in class 12 exam participation

IMPHAL: This year, the number of students sitting for the class 12 state board examinations in Manipur has decreased by approximately 5000, with over 31,000 students taking the exams.

Comparatively, last year, over 36,000 students appeared for the Council of Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate Exams (COHSEM) across 120 examination centres in Manipur, noted COHSEM chairman T Ojit Singh.

Singh mentioned that the decrease in the number of students and examination centres this year is attributed to the ongoing law and order issues in Manipur.

Around 31,000 students are sitting for the council's examinations that started on Wednesday (February 21), spanning across 111 centres.

Originally, the exams were planned to be conducted at 114 centres, but three schools, located in Kakching, Imphal East and Chakpikarong, were excluded from the list due to the situation in the surrounding areas of hills and valley districts.

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To accommodate affected students, arrangements have been made for them to take the exams at alternate centres.

Among the 111 centres, 75 are located in six valley districts, while the remaining 36 are situated in the hills, Singh confirmed.

The number of Science students appearing for the exams is 22,631, whereas those from the Arts stream total 8,100.

To maintain exam integrity, 70 flying squads have been deployed to monitor and prevent the use of unfair means during the tests, Singh added.