Ludhiana: Students barred from exam, allowed after delay

Three Class 10 students from an open school were left in distress on Tuesday after they were denied entry to their board examination centre for being declared ineligible. However, after an hour-long delay and multiple interventions, they were eventually permitted to sit for the exam on a conditional basis. The students, enrolled at Smt Satyawati Oswal Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, were to appear for their Punjabi exam at Government Senior Secondary School, Cemetery Road.

Upon reaching the centre, they were informed that they were not eligible to attempt the exam due to incomplete documentation. One of the students expressed frustration, saying, “The board issued us roll numbers, which means we were eligible. If we weren’t, why were roll numbers given to us in the first place?” Sunita Tondon, principal of Oswal School, confirmed that the board had raised concerns about incomplete documentation for some students.



“I personally submitted the required documents after being informed about the issue. The board later issued the roll numbers, which were then distributed to the students,” she said. Meanwhile, Barjinder Kaur, the examination superintendent at the centre, stated that they were instructed by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) to deny entry to the three students due to eligibility concerns.

Clarifying the board’s stance, Lovish Chawla, PSEB’s examination controller, said, “These students had not submitted the required documents. We had contacted them days ago to complete the formalities, but they failed to do so. As a result, they were deemed ineligible.

” One of the students complained that despite reaching the centre on time with valid roll numbers, they were forced to wait for over an hour before being allowed to enter. Following discussions, PSEB granted them permission to appear for the exam but under the condition that they should submit their remaining documents before March 17, the date of their next exam. Failure to do so could lead to the cancellation of Tuesday’s test.

To compensate for the delay, the students were granted additional time to complete their exam..