BSE exam panel fails to take "final" call on fate of students whose sheets went missing

The examination committee of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) Tuesday could not take a "final" decision about the fate of 108 students, whose Mathematics answer sheets went missing during the just-concluded matriculation examination in Odisha. The committee also failed to take a call on another 500 students, whose English paper was cancelled after a large number of students of at least three schools in Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Balangir districts were found to have adopted unfair practices during the matriculation (class 10) examination.

"Although the members of the examination committee discussed at length about certain other aspects of the Matriculation examination, they could not arrive at a final decision on the fate of the 108 students, whose answer sheets are still untraceable", BSE secretary Ramshis Hazra said.

The OMR sheets of about 108 students, who had written the matriculation examination from government-run Podia SSD High School in Malkangiri district, were found missing after the invigilators had collected them on the completion of the examination on March 2. Similarly, discussions on the fate of another 500 students also remained "inconclusive", Hazra said The examination committee would meet shortly to take a call on the two cases.

(With inputs from agencies.)