Mumbai: More than 15 lakh students appeared for the Class 12 Maharashtra state board exam on its first day, Tuesday.
Covering science, arts, commerce, vocational, and TechSci streams, the exam is held in two shifts each day.
The HSC papers are scheduled in two sessions each day- from 11 am to 2 pm and from 3 pm to 6 pm.
The exam will be taken by 8,20,229 boys and 7,12,240 girls, and will conclude on March 11.
On the first day, the English paper was held from 11 am to 2 pm under tight surveillance, according to the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.
The examinations are being conducted in 10,664 junior colleges across 3,387 main centres. To control the exam malpractices, 95 per cent of the centres are equipped with CCTV cameras.
The board has taken strict measures to ensure fair conduct during examinations by deploying special inspection teams at certain centres identified as prone to malpractice and has warned schools of severe consequences if irregularities are found.
The board has also set up a state-level vigilance committee and monitoring teams at all centres.
At the district level, vigilance committees headed by the District Collector and special squads from divisional boards will conduct surprise inspections.
This year, photocopy shops within a 500-metre radius of exam centres remain closed during the examination period, instead of the usual 100-metre restriction.
A total of 7,99,773 students are appearing for the science stream, 3,80,692 in Arts, 3,20,152 in Commerce, 27,378 in the vocational stream, and 4,492 in Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).
The class 10 or Maharashtra SSC exams will be held between February 20 and March 18.
