Missing question adds to students' woes in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: Students appearing for the social science exam in the ongoing Class X board exam on Saturday found that one question was missing from the paper, resulting in them appearing for only 49 marks. The paper was supposed to have 50 questions with each carrying one mark.
Some students, on the other hand, got jumbled up question papers as some questions of Set A appeared in Set B. Board of Secondary Education (BSE), which is conducting the exam, admitted that there were printing mistakes in the paper and assured that it will not have any impact during evaluation even as students and their parents expressed resentment over the goof-up.

"We generally expect to score 100% in objective type exams. After this goof-up, I am worried if we will get full marks," examinee Sarojini Behera said. She also claimed some questions from set A appeared in set B of the paper. "This type of blunders during board exams can make children nervous. The board should be extra careful as the future of hundreds and thousands of children is at stake," Dhruba Ranjan Sahu, who teaches in a school here, said.
The board authorities, however, said it was a printing error on the question paper. "There was no mistake in framing of the questions but a printing error in the set B question paper of history and political science. The board is aware of the issue and students need not worry as it will take appropriate steps during evaluation," BSE president Ramashis Hazra said.
He added that the goof-up was reported from a few centres only. "The board also received phone calls from teachers and we told them what to do. If any other student faced similar problems at other places, the respective centres will send a list of those students. We will ensure that no student will be affected by it," Hazra said.