Life turned upside down for 42-year-old Santosh Kumar Tiwari, a helper in an export house in Sector 37, on May 22 when he saw his daughter’s class 10 results of the Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE).
His daughter, Rupal Tiwari, 15, student of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Arjun Nagar, was declared failed despite being the school topper throughout the year.
Tiwari lives in Ravi Nagar in Basai village with his three daughters and wife. Rupal has been disheartened since her result was declared and is not ready to accept that she failed in two subjects. She and 10 of her friends had staged a protest and blocked the Pataudi Road on Monday demanding a re-evaluation of their answer sheets without having to pay the additional fee charged.
“My daughter is ready to take the exams again. She used to study for more than 10 hours a day and also helped her sisters in their studies. She is a brilliant student and secured 76 in English, 73 in Hindi, 90 in physical education and only 12 in maths and science,” said Tiwari.
The re-evaluation fees is Rs1,000 per subject and parents of students such as Rupal can’t afford the amount as many students have been declared failed in as many as four subjects. The school too has requested the divisional commissioner for help as 88 out of its 100 students were failed by the board.
Another parent, Chameli, whose daughter also failed, said, “We work very hard and want to provide a good education to our children, but we can’t afford it. We managed to send my daughters to school with great difficulty. We have been shattered since the results were declared and all doors of hope are closed as we cannot pay the re-evaulation fee.”
Students and parents have alleged incorrect assessment of the answer sheets and have demanded a re-evaluation. The parents alleged that the board has failed to add the internal marks, due to which the students scored low in all subjects.
The school authorities have also demanded a free re-evaluation. Principal Kavita Gupta said the students who have failed used to score above 60% and it is not possible for them to get such low marks.
“The students in the government school pay Rs30.75 per month and their board exam fee was Rs700, which the parents managed with great difficulty. Now, where will the parents get Rs1,000 for each paper?” she said.
“Some parents have taken loans from employers or friends to pay for the re-evaluation, but it is sad that they are being punished for no fault of theirs,” she added.
District education officer Neelam Bhandari assured that the authorities will look into the matter. “We have already written to the district commissioner and students will be provided relief,” she said.
Hardeep Singh, deputy commissioner, Gurgaon, said, “The district education officer and the principal will need to send a recommendation to us and we will request the secretary of HBSE to look into the matter. If there is any clause under which the parents can be provided relief from the re-evaluation fee, it will be provided.”
