While no malpractices or glitches were reported on the first day of higher secondary certificate (HSC) exams, students panicked at some centres because there was confusion about the rules. Nearly 3.38 lakh students wrote their first exam paper on Tuesday.
At Matunga’s Ramnivas Ruia Junior College, students were not allowed to carry their mobile phones even in their bags, which led to panic. The college cited a board rule which states that “use of mobile phones is prohibited in the exam hall”. Those who had phones in their bags were asked to leave them outside and then enter, but this posed problems for students who had come to the centre unaccompanied.
ed. “I have come alone from Govandi and have no one to give the phone for safekeeping. The college should have at least allowed us to leave the phones in our bags outside the exam hall at our own risk,” said Aditya Kamble, a commerce student from Wadala’s Ambedkar College.
Sarika Patkar, a Lower Parel resident whose daughter appeared for the exams at the same centre, kept a number of students’ phones. “I have managed to keep around 20 phones in my bag. Some students who were left with absolutely no other option handed them over to me minutes before the gate closed,” she said.
At Yojana Vidyalaya and Junior College in Borivli, students were asked to remove their shoes before entering the exam hall to ensure notes with answers were not being smuggled inside. Board officials said that there was no such rule. “We have no such rule and no student can be asked to remove shoes,” said Sandeep Sangave, secretary, Mumbai divisional board. An official from the school said, “We got verbal instructions from our main centre( under whose jurisdiction the school falls and from where it gets the exam papers) and hence asked students to remove their shoes. We will not do it from tomorrow if we get such a written order.”
The board said that there were no glitches or cases of malpractices reported on the first day. Only one student in the Mumbai division was barred from giving his examination. “The student came in at 12.30pm which was too late and beyond the permissible time. We asked the centre to act as per the rules,” said Sangave.
Several visually-impaired students struggled to find writers for their exams till the last minute.
Organisations that help students find potential writers said that often a writer is not available on all days at the required times, which means the student must keep looking for a writer for the remaining papers.
