Karwar: As many as 170 students did not appear for the annual SSLC exams in Karwar Educational District on the first day of the exams on Thursday.

As many as 9,531 students had registered their names for the SSLC exams which were held in 38 exam centres in five taluks coming under the Karwar Educational district. But of them, only 9,361 including 4,804 boys and 4,557 girls wrote the exams.

As many as 81 students from Karwar, 36 from Ankola, 27 from Kumta, and 13 each from Honnavar and Bhatkal remained absent.

Meanwhile, many parents of SSLC students were seen as anxious as the students. Many parents personally dropped their children to school to see to it that the children reached the exam hall safely. Also, to avoid their children face trouble from Holi revellers, parents preferred to ferry the children to the exam centres. Some parents even waited outside the exam hall till the exam concluded to pick the students.