Finance
The annual Higher Secondary Examination in Odisha will begin on February 18, while the Secondary School Certificate Examination, together with the State Open School Certificate and Madhyama examinations, will begin on February 19, officials announced on Saturday.
A high-level meeting convened by Chief Secretary Anu Garg reviewed preparations for a smooth and disciplined examination process. Garg emphasized that the examination process is directly tied to students’ futures, warning that no carelessness at any level will be permitted and directing all officials involved to carry out their obligations with utmost prudence, efficiency, and accountability.
The review meeting was virtually attended by District Collectors, Additional District Collectors, and Superintendents of Police from all districts. Senior authorities who attended included School and Mass Education Department Commissioner-cum-Secretary N. Mrinal Kanti Das, Chairman of the Council of Higher Secondary Education, Examination Controller Prashant Kumar Parida, Deputy Secretary Yashwant Samal, and other officers. President Shrikanth Tarai, Vice-President Amulya Kumar Pradhan, and Examination Controller Chakradhar Behera of the Odisha Board of Secondary Education also attended and informed the meeting on the plans.
4,16,623 applicants will take the Annual Higher Secondary Examination-2026, with 2,56,707 from Arts, 24,621 from Commerce, 1,14,363 from Science, and 5,932 from Vocational streams. There have been 211 examination management hubs, 1,357 examination centres, and seven sub-centres established. The examination will be conducted from February 18 to March 28, 2026.
The Annual Secondary Certificate Examination will be held between February 19 and March 2, 2026. While 5,46,875 applicants will take the Secondary Examination, the overall number of candidates, including Open School Certificate and Madhyama exams, is 5,61,979. For this objective, 322 nodal centers, 3,082 examination centers, and 50 answer script review centers have been constructed throughout the state.
Officials said stringent security measures have been put in place to ensure the delivery of question papers from the Board of Secondary Education headquarters in Cuttack to nodal centres. Question papers will be transported by designated teams, accompanied by armed police officers. All nodal centres and examination centres will remain under round-the-clock security and CCTV surveillance from the receipt of question papers until the collection of answer booklets.
The usage of mobile phones and electronic gadgets within examination centres is strictly prohibited. Any infringement of examination regulations would result in action under the Odisha Examination Act of 1988 and the applicable provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.
The Chief Secretary directed that examination rules be carefully followed and made available to all District Collectors, Superintendents of Police, and District Nodal Officers. Dr. Naik, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the School and Mass Education Department, advised district administrations and police authorities to guarantee the examinations were conducted in an orderly manner and to avoid unwanted crowding at examination centers.
