Amarpalli: The centres for students appearing in Matriculation exams of Luturpank High School and Amarpalli High School under Birmaharajpur block in Subarnapur district are close to 20 kilometres away from their respective educational institutions, parents have said.
According to them this is a clear violation of the guidelines from the state Education Department, they pointed out. With the exams approaching, the wrong selection of centres has left the students and parents worried.
Education Department guidelines state that centres for students of a particular school should not be more than five kilometres away from their respective schools. In case an area does not have a centre within a distance of five kilometres, the examinations should be conducted in a nearby school.
But in the case of Luturpank HS and Amarpalli HS the guidelines have not been followed, the parents pointed out.
The centre for Luturpank HS is 20 kilometres away while for Amarpalli HS in Bahalpadar panchayat, it is 15 km away.
Around 143 students, including 65 girls, from Amarpalli HS are scheduled to appear for the Class 10 exams.
The parents said Murshundhi HS and Indira Gandhi HS, which are just six km away from the Luturpank could easily have been selected as centres.
Similarly, for Amarpalli High School, the ideal centre should have been Luturpank HS, which is just five kilometers away.
The students will face huge difficulty in travelling to their respective centres on time, the parents said. Since most of them come from poor families it will be difficult to arrange a vehicle for them. Parents of most examinees work as daily labourers.
When contacted, Subarnapur District Education Officer Pushpa Minj said: “I will personally see into the matter to find out a solution and ease the problems of the parents and the students.
The Matric exams will begin from February 22.
PNN