HSC timetable changed without warning

Updated on: Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Students preparing for the HSC examinations found their worst nightmare come true on Monday afternoon when they discovered that the date for the French, Urdu and Pali tests had been rescheduled without any warning.

A few months ago, the state education board had put online the timetable for the HSC exams, according to which February 24 was the date for the three papers and there was no test on February 23. TOI has a copy of this timetable.

But the timetable that is currently on the board website shows the date for French, Pali and Urdu exams as February 23. The change has stumped many students, especially since they had bargained for an extra day to study.

“We were sure that the French exam was on February 24. But when I dropped in at the centre where my daughter will be writing the HSC exam, I found that the date for the exam was February 23. I was thoroughly confused and spoke to several people from the centre, all of whom confirmed February 23 as the date for the exam. Many of my daughter’s friends are also confused about this,” said Chetna Sakhare, the mother of an HSC student.

Dr Shridhar Salunkhe, chairperson of the Mumbai division of the state board of education, said there had been no change in the board timetable. Despite repeated attempts, TOI was unable to contact state board secretary S Dhekane about the matter.

The matter was brought to light by the student wing of the MNS, which visited the education department over the matter. “This is absolutely irresponsible on the part of the state board of education. If there are any changes to be made to the timetable after it has been finalised, the board should ensure that the message is passed on to students. We demand that the HSC board either postpone the exams by a day or clear the confusion,” said Sainath Durge of the Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena.

A French teacher from a college told TOI that she had heard from several students about the confusion over the date for the French paper.

HSC timetable changed without warning

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