Scores of students took to streets and staged demonstration in front of the various examination centres in Mysuru on Thursday to protest the second leak of II PU Chemistry question paper.
Students demonstrated in front of the Maharani’s College and were supported by the ABVP while there were protests in front of the DC’s office led by the All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) where slogans were raised demanding justice.
Safina, a student of Devaraja PU College who was participating in the protest said the question paper leak has come as a rude shock to all those who worked hard and prepared for the examination diligently. ‘’This is happening for the second time and amount to trauma as most of us have to prepare for other competitive examinations too and need to brush up for that,” she said.
An AIDSO activist Ms.Umadevi who was leading the protest said she came across parents who were in tears as they feared for the future of their children. ‘’Most of the parents today spend thousands and thousands of rupees on tuitions and in preparing their children for entrance examination for professional colleges and such incidents upsets their plans’’, she said.
Mr. T.P.Dinesh, a teacher and founder of Innovative Mathematical Science Institute in Mysuru told The Hindu that it is easy for the authorities to announce a re-examination but the pressure on the students will be high and having written the examination once they may or may not get into the same frame of mind again and this will affect their performance.
In addition, there are hundreds of students preparing for other competitive examination and this leak has upset their calculations. The IIT JEE starts from April 3 while the examination in the online mode will be held on April 9th and 10th. Hence the PU Board should keep these dates in mind and in the interest of the students ensure that the Chemistry re-examination date does not clash with them, said Mr.Dinesh.
Meanwhile, Sujata Rajpal, a parent, said it was unfortunate that the authorities are unable to keep a question paper safely.
Deputy Director of Pre University Board, Mysuru, K. M. Puttu told The Hindu that he received a call from the office of the Board Director around 6 am about the leak and he immediately called the treasuries in the taluks and asked them not to withdraw the question papers.
More than 9,000 students from Mysuru district had appeared for the Chemistry exam that was held on March 21 only to be cancelled.
