Karnataka all set to hold SSLC board examinations amid coronavirus scare
Free buses for students coming from Kasargod and Sulya
Bengaluru: Amid coronavirus scare in the state, the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board is all set to hold the Secondary School Leaving Certificate examination or 10th standard exam from Thursday with all precautionary measures in place.
The exam was supposed to take place on March 27 but due to the lockdown, it was postponed.
While a few neighboring states have given a general promotion to the 10th standard students due to coronavirus scare, the Karnataka government decided to hold the exam from June 25 to July 3.
"We are taking all precautionary measures to ensure the safety and security of the children in association with the home department and the health department," Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar told reporters on Wednesday.
"This examination is not a prestige issue for the government. This is the challenge we are accepting as our duty," he said.
As many as 8,48,203 children will appear for the examination at 2879 exam centers, education department officials said, adding that each examination hall will have only 18 to 20 students.
They said that 5,755 health check-up centers have been set up. The education department has roped in 81,265 employees to conduct the exam. This personnel will be present in the examination centers by 7 am, they added.
According to the education minister, adequate arrangements such as sanitizers and providing masks have been made at the centers.
He requested students to bring with them water bottles from home. For those who fail to bring it, water has been arranged at the centers.
Kumar said the police department will handle the safety and security arrangements whereas the health department will take care of sanitizing the examination halls.
"We will sanitize the exam halls every day after the exams are over. In addition to it, in every examination center physical education teachers are deployed to ensure social distancing among the students," Kumar said.
He pointed out that the photocopy centers, computer centers, and cyber cafes in the vicinity of the exam centers will remain shut till the exams are over.
Another important decision as per the standard operating procedure, which has been taken, is about the transportation of every child in every exam center in the state, Kumar added.
There will be free transportation in buses for students till the examination centers if they show their hall tickets.
The department has also hired buses on contract for children who do not have government buses to pick and drop them to their nearest destinations.
There is free bus travel available for children coming from Kasaragod in Kerala to Sulya in Karnataka from the inter-state border to the exam centers, the minister said.
According to him, special sitting arrangements in separate rooms have been made for children with fever where they will be given N95 masks.
The supervisors will also get N95 masks and sanitizers, he added.
The minister said the decision to hold exams was taken after getting a nod from the Union Home Ministry and the Human Resource Development Ministry.
"We are conducting this examination after consulting many political, social, religious leaders, education experts, and parents," he added.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
