Mahendranagar: The negligence on the part of the Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) in designating exam centres in Far West has troubled a number of higher secondary schools in conducting Ten Plus Two examinations.

The Dhangadhi office of HSEB has the responsibility to assign exam centres and to decide the number of students in them. However, its act of fixing the student number in a centre without a feasibility study has hampered smooth operation of Plus Two exams in the region.

The regional office has even been found to be allocating examinees double the capacity of the centre. Though the size of examinees has become a perennial problem, the HSEB has taken no step towards solving it despite frequent complaints from higher secondary school (HSS) principals.
The HSEB has gathered over 1,600 students for Grade 11 examinations at the Sudur Paschim Academy, Dhangadhi centre against the maximum capacity of 900. Similar is the case at the Sharada HSS centre where over 600 seats have been allocated though it cannot hold more the 450 students.

“We will need to look for rooms in other schools and colleges to adjust the students and it’s never easy to get a suitable place,” said Keshav Datta Pant, principal of the Bhrikuti HSS, Mahendranagar centre, where 766 examinees have been sent against the capacity of 450. The centres are compelled to flout exam rules by placing three students on one bench in the lack of adequate infrastructure.

Bishnu Datta Bhatta, principal of Baijanath Campus in Mahendra-nagar, said the HSEB has taken no step towards correction though they have been complaining about the matter for a long time. “Every aspect should be favourable for a perfect exam. There should not be the additional burden of transferring students from school to school during an examination,” he demanded.

According to Mahendra Raj Pandey, chief at the HSEB regional office, the problem is due to a funds crunch. He claimed that since his office had got budget for only 94 centres, he could not decide on increasing the number though he was aware of the problem. “Over Rs 150,000 is needed for one centre,” he said, vowing to make efforts to sort out the problem next year.

source: the kathmandu post,13 may 2013