No chairs, students take exam on coir mats

Bareilly: Several prominent examination centers in the city like Tilak Inter College in Quila locality, CB Ganj Inter College in CB Ganj locality and Krishi Inter College in Paradali, were unable to arrange appropriate furniture for students on the first day of the UP Board examination which started on February 19 across the state.
Students in some centres were forced to sit on coir mats and take the examination in dilapidated buildings without any proper facilities of drinking water and electricity.Several students were seen awkwardly bent over their papers for three hours, hardly finding time to stretch their legs or necks.
A similar situation was seen in SP leader Azam Khan’s constituency Rampur. The girls appearing for their board exams sat on coir mats in the Zulfiqar girls inter college. In some centres, the situation was so dire that students brought their own candles due to lack of electricity. About 23,632 students appeared for the exam in Rampur in 76 centres on Thursday.
Rampur DIOS Maya Devi said, “We have demanded funds for furniture of the classrooms from the government for the new session.”
Meanwhile, Bareilly school authorities claimed that the number of students scheduled to appear at their centres were more than the capacity, forcing them to ask students to adjust on the floor.
Talking to TOI, Hari Om Mishra, Principal of Tilak Inter College said, “At the time of allotment of centers, a majority of schools had informed district education officials about their school strength. However, the students allotted were far more than their seating capacity. We had to accommodate around 200 extra students. With no financial aid from the government and district education officers, it is posing to be a huge burden on schools.”
On being questioned on availability of tables and chairs, Mishra said, “Wooden chairs used in schools are not available in open market while plastic chairs would not be comfortable for the students.”
District education officials should consider strength of examinees at the allotted centers including several aspects like space constraints and others said Mishra.
Chetan Pandey, high school student, who wrote his paper at Tilak Inter College, said, “All the students had to struggle throughout the examination period. It was really hard to sit on coir as none of us are used to sitting on the floor for long hours. However, I am happy that the question paper was easy.”
Apart from Tilak Inter College, several other examination centers in district too faced similar problems after examinees scheduled to appear at these centers were more than their capacities. While students had to sit on choir and mats to solve papers at these centers, electricity and water shortage too was faced by students at various centers.
On other hand, District Inspector of School (DIOS) Ashutosh Bhardwaj said, “We had asked all examination centers concerned to arrange for required furniture as early as possible.”
On February 23, students appearing for board examination at CB Ganj Inter College might have to face similar problem. Around 1,100 examinees are scheduled to appear at examination center while the college has a capacity of 700.