Bengaluru : As many as 8.73 lakh students will attend the SSLC annual examination starting from March 28 to April 22. Students wearing hijab will not be allowed to appear the examination and wearing mask covering mouth and nose is not mandatory.

The examination will be held in 3,444 centers in the state.Going by the recent judgement by the Karnataka High Court on the hijab row, the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) has instructed all students appearing for the exams to stick to the court order on uniform.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh said every student has to follow the court order when it comes to uniforms.With Covid-19 cases dipping, the board has relaxed restrictions and it is not mandatory for students to wear masks during the exams.

The education department has instructed the under authorities concerned to sanitise the classrooms every day, but wearing masks will not be mandatory during examinations.This year, as many as 8,73,846 candidates from 15,387 schools located in various parts of Karnataka are appearing for the examination, of which 8,20,888 are freshers and 46,200 are private candidates. As per KSEEB data, four transgender candidates have registered for the SSLC exams. Over 4,52,732 male and 4,21,110 female candidates have registered for the exams.