CBSE examination commences

New Delhi, Mar 1: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examinations commenced across the country today.

An estimated 11.43 lakh pupils are appearing for the twelfth and tenth standard examinations.

For the twelfth standard examination, which began today, about 4,54,045 students, including 1,90,759 girls, appeared.

The number registered an increase of 7.04 per cent compared to last year, when 4,21,463 candidates wrote the examination.

More than 6,46,366 pupils, including 3,77,448 boys, will appear for the tenth class examination, which is being held from March 2 to 27. The figure for tenth class has also recorded an increase of 6.55 per cent from last year when 6,06,632 students appeared.

In Delhi, students started arriving early at the examination centres to avoid traffic blockades caused by massive security arrangements for the three-day visit of US President George Bush.

The Board has also asked tenth standard students to start early for the examination centres tomorrow to avoid traffic jams.

In the Delhi region, the board has set up 529 centres, of which 198 have been declared ''sensitive''.

UNI