Mumbai: A principal from a school based in Dadar has filed a complaint against a SSC centre in Wadala which is host to many of its students taking the class 10 board exam this year. The principal of this school has requested anonymity, however, The Free Press Journal accessed a copy of the complaint filed by the school.
In the complaint letter filed on March 9, the Dadar school principal objected to the facilities provided at the SSC exam centre 8301, Wadala's Shri Ganesh Vidyalaya, asking the Maharashtra State Board to take all necessary measures urgently.
According to the complaint letter, the students are not able to focus on their exams as the board center is situated in a noisy area. The benches provided to students for the exam are small and intended for primary school students, she wrote.
Asbestos roof makes the room very warm, alleged the principal. | File
The principal also alleges that the classrooms have no fans or proper ventilation. ‘The roof (of the exam centre classrooms) is made of Asbestos sheets, which make the room very hot and unbearable for the children to sit in this condition for 3 hours, especially when they are writing a board exam. Children are sweating profusely and they are unable to concentrate and write,’ stated the letter filed by the Principal, a copy of which was accessed by The Free Press Journal.
'Children are sweating profusely and they are unable to concentrate and write,’ stated the complaint letter filed by the Principal. | File
After receiving the letter, the Maharashtra Board of Secondary and Higher Education assigned an Education Inspector to look into the complaints on the same day. “The education inspector has examined the centre located in Shri Ganesh Vidyalaya and reported that it has sufficient provisions to ensure that the students would face no problems while appearing for the board examination. The classrooms are spacious enough to accommodate all students who come there,” said Dr. Subhash Borse, Secretary of Mumbai Division, Maharashtra State Board.
Wadala's Shri Ganesh Vidyalaya is currently accommodating as many as 170 students from various neighbouring schools since March 2 when the exams commenced. When asked about the possible relocation of students, Dr. S. Borse, stated that there were no centres around the locality that could house 170 students all in one. “Even if the students were relocated, they would have to be shifted all at once to maintain the barcode system created by the Maharashtra Board which changes from centre to centre,” said Borsar.
Similar problems were reported by students and parents from other schools who were assigned to the same exam center, said Pradeep Sawant from Yuvasena. "Several parents have approached us stating that their children are not in the right mindset to take the exam due to these problems. We are asking for these students to be shifted to other schools immediately," said Sawant.
