The Hindu

Mangalore, Feb 27: With TV channels gearing up to telecast the World Cup cricket matches live from the West Indies next month, parents and teachers seem to be getting anxious as the series will coincide with the SSLC and final year PU examinations. The SSLC examination will start on March 21 and the PU examination soon after.

While the SSLC examination will be held during the World Cup, PU students will be preparing for their examinations at the time. Although the matches will be telecast during the night, parents feel students might stay awake to view them and this would cut into their study time.

Many, they feel, might even fall sick due to untimely sleeping hours and may not be able to perform to their potential.

Amrut Malla, a parent from Aliyur in Moodbidri, said that the live telecast of the matches was one of the worst things that could happen to students facing examinations. He said the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) should stand up against the "cricket lobby" and take steps to prevent against this "serious" distraction for students. It should save the youth from compromising on the most crucial phase of their studies, he added.

Arjun Shetty, a physical education teacher at a local PU college here, said too much cricket was being played nowadays. Gone were the days when there used to be only particular seasons for matches. Now, all seasons were being found suitable for them, he lamented.

A concerned parent Pandurang Shenoy felt it was impossible to prevent students from watching unlimited cricket. He said his son, who would be writing the PU examination in April, had downloaded the details of the World Cup and was more excited about the matches than the examinations. He said Sourav Ganguly's comeback into the squad appeared to be more important to his son than higher studies.

Schools have also begun sending messages to parents and teachers to dissuade children from watching the matches.