Bhubaneswar: The matriculation examination in Odisha is set to commence on February 21 and will continue until March 6, as announced by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE). The exams will be conducted across 3,133 centres in 30 districts, with a total of 5,10,778 students appearing for the examination, informed BSE President Srikant Tarai.

Admit cards will be made available both online and offline. From February 10, students can download their admit cards from the board’s official website. Additionally, all examination centres have been equipped with CCTV cameras to ensure strict monitoring.

In a move to curb malpractice, the board has formed four types of squads, totalling 172 teams, including 42 squads formed directly by the board. These teams will oversee and prevent any unfair practices during the examination process. Further, the question papers will feature unique security measures such as booklet numbers with watermarks, QR codes, and static QR codes.

For enhanced surveillance, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled cameras have been installed at all exam centres and nodal centres. The board has also set up a four-tier squad system comprising 70 teams led by district education officers, 42 teams from the board, and additional teams from the education department and police administration. A control room will be established at the board’s headquarters to oversee real-time proceedings through live streaming.

The board officials will monitor exam operations from the control room, and in case of any suspicious activity at any centre, the assigned squads will take immediate action. Each question paper will carry a unique serial number to trace any possible leaks back to a specific examination centre. The question papers will be dispatched to exam centres on February 12 and will reach all centres by February 19.

This year, 314 nodal centres have been designated for the smooth administration of the examination. The evaluation of answer sheets is set to begin from March 19. Each district will have designated nodal centers for efficient execution of the examination and evaluation procedures.