Time delays and missing hall tickets vexed about 800 students appearing for the final Industrial Training Institute (ITI) exam as part of the government’s skill training and apprenticeship programme at Shardashram Vidyamandir in Dadar on Tuesday. The exam scheduled to start at 9.30 a.m., began past 12 noon.
“We work for a company for a year as part of the ITI programme and then write a final exam on the basis of which we get a permanent job,” said Amol Chaudhuri, a student. “When we reached at 9.30 a.m., people at the centre did not know that the ITI exam was to be held there. Many students couldn’t find their hall tickets because instead of their candidate number, the centre had recorded their ITI apprenticeship number.” He said, “We are supposed to write our practical exam tomorrow, but are unsure of where our centre is.”
Rameshwar Shere, District Secretary of Students’ Federation India, Mumbai, said, “The Students Federation of India got involved because students were facing difficulty. We tried to find out from authorities why these delays took place.” He said, “Students could not access the number for their seat, and the exam started late. Authorities said the question paper had arrived late. Our worry is if students fail or are unable to get jobs because of the delay, will the Directorate of Technical Education or ITI centre authorities take action?
Siddharth Haste, Joint Director (Mumbai region), Directorate of Vocational Education and Training, said, “We sent out information on how to seat candidates in advance, so we are unsure why the delay took place. Of the 36 district centres, Dadar was the only one to report a problem. We will take the matter up at the DVET regional office in Bandra and look into it.”
