Hyderabad: The Board of Secondary Education, Telangana is all set to conduct SSC public examinations from Friday. According to the education department, all the necessary arrangements have been made and this year to combat question paper leakage, with the School Education department rolling out new security measures. Starting this year, the Class X exams question papers will feature QR (Quick Response) codes and unique security numbers, an initiative designed to enhance security besides curbing question paper leakage. Even this year, students will be given grace time of five minutes. The Class X exams will begin at 9.30 am and latecomers will be allowed to enter the centres till 9.35 am only.

As many as 5,09,403, including 4,97,341 regular students and 12,062 private candidates (once failed) registered for the exams, which will conclude on April 4. Around 2,650 centres have been set up and 144 flying squads have been constituted to oversee the conduct of the exams. Students should not carry any papers except their hall tickets. Carrying a cell phone, calculator, or any electronic device into the examination centres is strictly prohibited.

According to the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), except for the first language composite course and science subjects, the exams will be conducted from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm. The first language composite course exam timing is 9.30 am to 12.50 pm, while the part-I physical science and part-II biological science exams will be held from 9.30 am to 11 am on two separate days.

This time, students will be provided a 24-page answer booklet instead of multiple answer sheets. The booklet will eliminate the need for multiple sheets, ensuring that answers are in a single booklet and reduces the risk of pages getting misplaced with improper tying of the sheets. This move is also aimed at curbing mass copying in the examination halls.

Highlighting on the QR code, a senior officer said each page of the question paper will come printed with a QR code and unique security number as a watermark. The initiative will enable authorities to easily trace the source of any leaked papers. If a question paper is photographed, recorded or photocopied and shared on social media or WhatsApp, the origin, including the centre of the leak can be easily determined.