Bhubaneswar, Mar 17 (IANS): The Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), Odisha on Thursday announced that the annual Class 12 examination will be held in offline mode from April 28.

It is mandatory for all Plus II students to appear for the test, which will continue till May 24. More than 3.2 lakh students in arts, science, commerce and vocational streams will appear for the examination.

As the students are facing difficult situations due to Covid-19 pandemic, the council has adopted a new format for the Plus II examination and its evaluation, after holding discussion with all stakeholders including teachers, students and parents, the CHSE said in a statement.

In view of the heatwave condition, the examinations will be held in one sitting starting at 9 a.m. All practical examinations will be conducted at the higher secondary school-level.

The council has adopted two schemes for evaluation of marks of the students. Under the first scheme, 20 per cent weightage will be given to the marks obtained by a student in the internal examination conducted by the concerned school. For this, out of three internal examinations, two tests where the student has secured higher marks will be taken into account. Remaining 80 per cent weightage will be given to the final examination to be conducted by the council from April 28.

The council further said it will give 100 per cent weightage to the upcoming annual higher secondary examination under the second scheme of evaluation.

Highest of the marks obtained by the student in above two schemes shall be counted as the final mark in that particular paper, informed the CHSE.