Sheth CN Vidyalay, a normally bustling Class 10 board exam centre, was deserted on Thursday. The school only had one specially abled student as an examinee for the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board’s class 10 board exam (GSHSEB). While the routine administrative arrangements for board exams continued, the school’s lone student took the Standard Mathematics paper. Every day, at least 500 board students attend the school.
Officials of the District Education Office (DEO) – City and Rural – said there were at least 10 to 11 such exam centres where only one student appeared for the Standard Mathematics paper of Class 10 Boards. This is because Standard Mathematics is opted for by limited students in the city and on Thursday only 12,307 students in the Ahmedabad district appeared for the subject exam.
Mehul Patel, in-charge Principal of Sheth CN Vidyalay said that the staff allocation for the board exam remains the same as per rules even if only one student is to appear at the centre.
“Six to seven personnel were present including the centre head, government representative, CCTV personnel, supervisor, police personnel, and peon among others. We conduct the exam as we do every day even if only one student is appearing for it. This is also done to make students feel at home,” he said.
On Thursday, Vedant Patel, a specially-abled student with 30% hearing ability, was the sole examinee at Sheth CN Vidyalaya. When his father, Harshad Patel, arrived at the school to drop him off, he was surprised to see no other students and wondered if he had arrived at the wrong exam centre. “Initially, I was surprised and it took me five minutes to come to terms with the fact that I was the only student at the centre. “However, the staff made me feel at ease, and I wrote my papers with ease,” Vedant said.
DEO City, RM Chaudhary, stated that at least four centres in the city had only one student taking the exam.
DEO Rural, Bharat Vadher said in rural five centres each had only one student appearing for the exam. Five of these students were in Class 10 while one was in Class 12.
“These centres include Saurabh Vidyalay, Shivam Vidyalay in Nava Naroda, Bhavna Girls Higher Secondary School in Vastral, Shri Dalod Vidyamandir in Dalod and St Joseph Secondary School in D cabin,” said Vadher. “When certain subjects have only a few students appearing for the exam, we don’t force an exam centre to accommodate students beyond their capacity. We allocate a separate centre even if it is only for a single student. The manpower to conduct the exam is also provided as per the board process,” said an official explaining why some exam centres had just one student on Thursday.