Tirupati: Intermediate students have geared up for practical examinations scheduled to be held from February 5. These examinations will be held for vocational students from February 5 to 9 while general stream students have to appear for the same from February 10 to 20. Officials have made foolproof arrangements for the examinations which the District Collector has reviewed during a coordination meeting held on February 3.

Regional Inspection Officer (RIO) G V Prabhakar Reddy told The Hans India that the practical examinations will be held in two shifts daily with the first shift running from 9.00 am to 12.00 pm and the second shift from 2,00 pm to 5.00 pm. The question papers will reach the examination centres online which should be downloaded with a password.

A total of 24,927 General stream students will take their practical exams across 124 centers, while 2,355 Vocational stream students will be accommodated in 23 centers. Students are required to arrive at their respective examination centres at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the examination. The RIO made it clear that examinations will be held under CCTV cameras surveillance to ensure transparency and prevent malpractice.

The RIO office will have a control room to monitor the CCTV cameras while the Board of Intermediate Education will have a dashboard for the same. He added that theory examinations will be held from March 1 to 20 which will be attended by 33000 candidates across 86 centres in the district.

Meanwhile, during the coordination meeting, district collector Dr S Venkateswar directed all the line departments to facilitate the students by taking all necessary steps. To facilitate student transportation, the transport department has arranged bus services from railway and bus stations to the examination centres.

Authorities have been instructed to ensure that students face no difficulties during the exams. Necessary infrastructure, including adequate drinking water, lighting and well-maintained rooms, must be provided. The collector reiterated that no electronic gadgets would be permitted inside the examination centres.

In Chittoor district, district revenue officer K Mohan Kumar reviewed the arrangements with the officials on Tuesday. RIO Sayyad Moula, special officer Dayanand Raju and others attended the meeting. The DRO said that a total of 12311 students will appear for the practical exams from general and vocational streams. While 69 centres are set up for general stream candidates, for vocational students there will be 11 centres.