Kathmandu, March 20 -- The Secondary Education Examinations (SEE) began nationwide on Thursday, with 514,017 students sitting for the tests-an increase of 49,286 from last year.

According to the National Examinations Board, students from 11,216 public and private schools are appearing for the exams. Among them, 257,730 are female, 256,311 are male, and 30 fall under the other category.

The exams are being conducted at 2,080 centres, including in prisons in Kathmandu and Dailekh and a juvenile correction home in Bhaktapur. One centre has also been set up at a Nepali school in Japan.

Board chair Mahashram Sharma said question papers, answer sheets, and other exam materials have been delivered to centres and nearby security offices. A tot...