An exam at Shaheed E Azam Sukhdev Thapar Govt Senior Secondary School in Ludhiana. (Express photo by Gurmeet Singh)
Sitting under the sun with their uniforms and answer sheets covered in dust, students in several government schools of Punjab were seen struggling in writing their final exams on Thursday and Friday.The Punjab government says it simply doesn’t have money for benches.
Sitting on the floor (in some schools even without floor mats), in the playgrounds under open skies, corridors and even under the trees, students were visibly uncomfortable. They were struggling in positioning themselves while trying to balance the sheets on floor or in their laps.
Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) conducts board exams for classes 10 and 12. The exams for classes 5 and 8 are conducted by State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) under Learning Outcome Evaluation System (LOES) which are also held at external centres. However, students are not detained even if they fail.
Examination centres in Punjab have been established without checking the number of benches available with the schools.
At Shaheed-e-Azam Sukhdev Thapar Government Senior Secondary School (Girls), Bharat Nagar, at least 160 students of classes 6,7 and 9 sat in the open grounds amid wild grass and construction material lying nearby. Girls were seen struggling to keep off dust from their sheets and clothes. Some were sitting under the trees. Of 550 students of class 11 who also had their exam, at least 200 sat on the floor.
Kamaljit Kaur, principal of the school, said they had tried to make the best arrangements with the resources available. “To adjust 600 students of class 10 and 30 from class 5 who came from other schools, we have to make our own students of 6,7,9 and 11 to sit in the open and on the floors. We have shortage of at least 100 benches.”
At least 200 students of class 8 also sat on floor due to shortage of benches.
At Government Senior Secondary School, Talwandi Rai, class 10 students gave exams sitting on the floor. The school was made centre for both regular and open students for classes 10 and 12, though had arrangement of 240 benches only. At least 485 candidates of class 10 sat on floor and in corridors. The school had to use three rooms of another building nearby to seat its own students of classes 6,7,9 and 11.
Principal Baljinder Kaur said that despite her repeated pleas to the officials citing lack of arrangements, her school was made the centre. “My school has 240 benches only. We have to make 485 candidates of class 10 and 302 candidates of class 12 sit on floors. We do not even have enough rugs.” This school was even announced as centre for classes 5 and 8 which the principal says she got cancelled after much struggle. “When I told higher ups that there is no arrangement to adjust classes 5 and 8, they asked me to make them sit in the open or in the playground. I was stunned with this reply. How can I make junior classes sit in open under blazing sun. I refused,” she said.
At the Government Primary School, Sarabha Nagar, students of classes 1 to 4 were sitting on floors under the sun as 70 benches had to be given for class 5 students who were writing exams. A teacher on duty said, “Classes 1 to 4 are suffering as we have all benches for class V. We relieve them early after giving mid day meal as small children get unwell sitting in open for so long.”
At Government High School, Sarabha Nagar- classes 6,7 and 9 were sitting on floor as rooms were occupied by class 10.
A student said, “My back and legs started paining after an hour. We had drawing exam. Anyway it wasn’t possible to draw perfectly without a bench.”
The central government schemes, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), do not have any budgetary provision for furniture in schools, says Prashant Goyal, director general school education (DGSE) Punjab.
“We do not have furniture component under SSA or RMSA. So, we entirely depend on state budget for benches grant. It is a fact that there is an extreme shortage of benches in our schools right now. We have demanded Rs 22 crore this year from the state for benches. As of now, budget is extremely tight to provide new benches,” he told The Indian Express.
Meanwhile, since grant for benches has not come for years, schools depend on NRIs and NGOs to donate benches.