PATNA: The unprecedented low pass percentage — a mere 35 per cent — in this year’s Class XII examinations in Bihar sparked street protests by students across the State on Wednesday even as questions were raised on the standards of evaluation of answer sheets.
Despite education minister Ashok Chaudhary claiming that stringent measures were adopted during the examinations this year to prevent cheating, the examination system came under attack following new revelations. Some examinees said they had already cleared the IIT-JEE Mains on merit and challenged the beleaguered Bihar School Education Board (BSEB) to prove publicly that they failed in the Class XII examinations. Some students pointed at a possible “evaluation racket” at work and claimed that they had received phone calls offering them higher marks in exchange for money.
The BSEB headquarters in Patna was gheraoed by over 500 angry students who had failed and their relatives, who burnt effigies of education minister and BSEB chairman Anand Kishore. When the protests turned violent, police lathi-charged the students, causing injuries to at least 12 students. In Supaul’s Triveniganj, angry students blocked the NH-327 for hours. Similar protests were held in Buxar, Kaimur, Banka, Purnea, Lakhiserai and other districts.
“These results are all fake. I cleared the IIT-JEE Mains recently. It is impossible that I failed in physics and chemistry in the BSEB examinations,” said an angry Anuj Kumar, from Nalanda district. “I dare the BSEB to publicly prove that I failed in these two subjects,” he said, ruing that he stands to lose his chance to study in an IIT. Mohammad Ibrahim, a student from Patna who had cleared IIT-JEE Mains and was preparing for the Advanced exams, hoping to get admission at NIT in Warangal, also challenged his BSEB results. At least two students who had failed said they had received phone calls during evaluation time.