Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi

Udupi, Feb 16: The CBSE Class 10 board exams commenced on February 15, but allegations have surfaced regarding a delay in distributing question papers at a private school in Manipal. Parents and students claim that despite the delay, adequate extra time was not provided to compensate for the lost time.

It is alleged that in exam halls 7 and 8 at the school, students received their question papers 30 minutes late. However, instead of granting an equivalent grace period, they were given only 10 extra minutes. This left students anxious and struggling to complete their exams on time, causing distress among parents.

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Parents have urged the school administration and concerned authorities to review the CCTV footage and conduct a thorough investigation. They have demanded appropriate action against those responsible and requested that students affected by the delay be granted grace marks or other forms of compensation.

Additionally, complaints have emerged that an official concerned dismissed the issues raised by parents and students without providing a satisfactory response.

However, the CBSE board has denied the allegations, stating that the delay was not 30 minutes.

Allegations false and malicious: CBSE Centre superintendent

Bhujanga Shetty, the centre superintendent appointed by the CBSE, said, "The allegations are false, and the issue has been exaggerated with malicious intent. There was a delay of only 10 minutes, and the students were rightfully compensated. The delay was due to the time taken for frisking, as there were a large number of students. We have CCTV footage to corroborate our statement. The entire examination process takes place under the strict vigilance of the CBSE board headquarters via live CCTV, and no such anomalies go unnoticed."

He further clarified that students entered the examination hall at 10:10 am, began writing the paper at 10:40 am, and the exam concluded at 1:40 pm, with students receiving the compensatory 10 minutes.