BENGALURU: More than eight lakh class 10 students, who are set to take SSLC exams this academic year, may have to start their preparations early. With the Karnataka state assembly elections being planned for April-May of 2018, the Election Commission of India has instructed the Karnataka Secondary Education and Examination Board (KSEEB) to look into the option of advancing the SSLC exams for 2018.

While the exam typically ends in April, the commission has reportedly asked the board to consider concluding it by the end of March. The reason being ci ted was the need for setting up polling booths in schools and colleges. As most of the polling happens in schools, the election commission wants the KSEEB to ensure that there will be no clash of dates between the exams and the polling days. The department of public instruction has not con firmed the information yet. PC Jaffer, commissioner, public instruction said: "There have been talks on this aspect but we haven't discussed the possibility yet. We will first need to receive an official confirmation and only then can we decide if the dates need to be advanced."

In 2013, during the last as sembly elections, the class 10 exams were held over a period of 10 days, beginning on April 1 and ending on April 10. Then, when a similar debate on clash of dates cropped up, the department had proposed to the Election Commission to start the polling from mid-April, after the scheduled conclusion of the SSLC exam.

In 2017, the SSLC board exams commenced on March 30 and concluded on April 12.The results for the same were announced on May 11. Over eight lakh students appeared for the exam held in 2,770 centres.