Girls block road, seek paper review

GURUGRAM: Close on the heels of protests by school students in Rewari and Kadarpur for various reasons, a dozen girls from Arjun Nagar Government Senior Secondary School blocked

Pataudi Chowk

on Monday morning, demanding

reassessment

of their Class X results.

The girls had the entire district administration hopping, after they blocked the roads with a human chain. They started the protest at 9am and stayed on till 11am, which coincided with morning rush hour. They alleged they have been deliberately marked failed in maths and science, and that they cannot afford the revaluation, which costs Rs 1,000 per answer sheet. Cops and education department officials eventually arrived to bring the situation under control.

Of the 100 students who appeared for the Class X exams from the school, only 12 have managed to pass. All 88 students who have failed, also failed in both science and maths, while, in the case of some students, their scores in individual subjects can’t be accessed.

“The school has fared poorly, overall. In such a situation, the department should conduct an inquiry. Why should we pay for re-evaluation, especially when so many students have failed in exactly the same two subjects,” said Megha, one of the protesting students.

The girls also said they have been given exceptionally low marks in Math and Science, some as low as 10 and 15. “We have scored 80+ in other subjects, but less than 30 in Math and Science. There is definitely some issue with the assessment,” said Meenakshi Goswami, another student.

The school administration appeared to agree with the students, and said results were a shock. “Some very good students have been marked low. For others, the subject scores have not been made available. Understandably, the students are depressed and upset,” said Kavita Gupta, the principal.

The protesting students were later taken to the sub-divisional magistrate Bharat Bhushan Gogia, who took down their complaint in writing and forwarded it to the office of Anil Nagar, the secretary of the Haryana board of secondary education in Chandigarh. “We’ve recorded their complaint and will look into the matter. Most likely, the department will call for computerised re-evaluation, to avoid human error,” said Bhushan.