Hyderabad: The ‘No entry to even one-minute late comers to Intermediate examination centers’ rule introduced by the Board of Intermediate Education has killed aspirations of many students across the Telangana State.
On Wednesday, the Intermediate students wading through several hurdles reached their examination centers, but the officials concerned refused to permit them to enter the examination hall reminding the BIE rule that they will not allow the students to step into the examination centers even if they are late by ‘one minute’.
The students, who pursued their Intermediate for the last two years with several pains, lost their chance of writing the examination with the rule of ‘one-minute-late – no entry into Examination Centre’
Several students, who reached the examination centers a minute late and refused entry into examination hall, were in tears. Parents, who spent thousands of rupees for their children to pursue Intermediate course, looked disheartened.
The students and parents at several examination centers yelled at the BIE’s ‘one minute late’ rule terming the rule as ‘bloody. “We reached the examination centers in the buses with great pains but failed to reach the center in time. The officials concerned refused to allow my son’ said a dejected father of one of the students at Tarnaka. When asked he declined to disclose his name.
These scenes were common everywhere in the city. Another angry parent asked, “What would happen if the students reached examination hall by a minute late. There will be no earthquake or Tsunami if the students come a minute late to the examination centere … But the students will lose a precious year if they were deprived of writing the examination after hard studies”.
Another student refused to tell his name. But only said he missed the chance of writing the examination with the one-minute-late rule. “Nothing would happen with the one minute late rule. I will just lose my time in writing the examination. I don’t know why the Board authorities imposed this rule without thinking about practical problems of the students”, he bemoaned.
An Osmania University Professor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said no student, especially of Intermediate, would come late to the examination hall intentionally. “Very few students, due to various reasons, reach examination halls a bit late.
It is not correct on the part of the BIE authorities to deny permission with ‘one minute late’ rule. After all, we are human beings. Nobody will come late to the examination hall intentionally. Very few reach examination centers a bit late due to traffic jams, ill-health, family problems and so on”.
A senior journalist has opined that the conditions in Hyderabad city are very problematic. It was not easy for the students to reach the examination hall before an hour. The examination centers routes are not familiar to students and they may reach the examination centers a few minutes late, he said and questioned whether it was right on the part of the examination centers authorities to deny permission to write the examination.
He said earlier there was a rule that the students could be allowed into the examination hall even after half-an-hour after the commencement of the examination. “The students will lose their own time and get fewer marks, if they are late. But preventing the late-comers from writing the examination will ruin their educational career.
Already Intermediate education is stressful and depression levels of the students will increase with the denial of writing examination leading to suicidal tendencies. The students concentrate only on reaching the examination hall in time under great pressure affecting their memory.
In Godavarikhani in Karimanagar district, three students — Madhukar, Shekar and Sayyad Samiuddin reached the examination hall a minute late. The BIE officials didn’t allow them by showing the ‘one minute late’ rule. They said they reached the examination hall one minute late as their houses were far away from the examination center. (NSS)
