MALAPPURAM: Poor quality printing of SSLC certificate has left thousands of students worried and they are now knocking at the doors of the Education Department for fresh certificates.
Schools across Malabar have received thousands of complaints from students saying letters on their certificates are getting erased.
Express found students flocking into the office with their faulty certificates at one of the schools at Tirur on Thursday morning. "For last few days, students are coming here with complaints that letters on their certificates are getting erased. We have decided to replace certificates of all students here," said the school headmaster.
The first complaint was received in the last week of July but school authorities sent back the complainant blaming he failed to keep the certificate properly. "We understood that it was actually a case of poor quality printing when more students started approaching us with same complaint," the headmaster said.
According to Education Department officers, poor quality toner powder has caused the issue and the department has asked schools to get back the certificates issued along with its two copies.
"Four machines were used to print certificates and the certificates that were printed in one of them have been found to have the defects. Cases are being reported from Malabar region and we have made all steps to replace the certificates with fresh ones," said K I Lal, Secretary to the Commissioner for Government Examinations.
Meanwhile, teachers' organisations have vented their ire and alleged the department has become a place of inefficient officers. "The department has been repeatedly committing lapses and this is the latest one of the series. This speaks volumes on the negligence of officers," said Kerala School Teachers Union (KSTU) state general secretary A K Sainudheen.