ROURKELA: Thousands of poor Class X students in tribal-dominated Sundargarh district are at their wit’s end after the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha allotted them examination centres at faraway places.
The BSE’s decision has evoked sharp criticism as parents of majority of the students either work as daily wagers or marginal farmers. The Board reportedly ignored suggestions to shift teachers as invigilators to other schools to ensure fair examination instead of causing inconvenience to students.
The BSE has announced to hold matriculation examination in two phases, the first term scheduled from January 5 to 8 and the second from April 22. Sources said the examination centres have been set up at a distance of 5-15 km from schools. The faraway centres would cause unnecessary hassles for both day scholars and boarders besides financial burden as the students would have to make their own arrangements to appear the examination. The worst affected would be girl students.
Binas Barla of Kuanrmunda block, who ekes out a living by selling vegetables, said he would have to spend at least Rs 1,500 towards auto-rickshaw fare for three days and also forego his daily earning to accompany his daughter Abinasi to the examination centre at Birmitrapur, around 12 km away from her school. The pandemic has aggravated his financial plight and this travel cost would be an additional burden on him, Barla rued.
Teachers too flayed the decision of BSE. Secretary of Sundargarh unit of Odisha Secondary School Teachers’ Association (OSSTA) Santosh Nayak said BSE was suggested to allow students to appear the examination at their own schools with exchange of teachers on invigilation duty along with deployment of adequate independent observers. But the suggestion was ignored.
A teacher on condition of anonymity said since it is too late to revoke the decision, the government should at least ensure free transportation for students. “The top BSE officials are oblivious to the ground realities, financial status of students and transportation woes in rural pockets. If steps are not taken to address the issues, students would have to undergo similar ordeal for the final term examination in April,” he added.