Education board officials, helplines flooded with queries from confused students and colleges after internet search throws up links to sites with outdated exam info
Education board officials, helplines flooded with queries from confused students and colleges after internet search throws up links to sites with outdated exam info
It is a mistake that can mean disaster for students and the exam board. It has been discovered that a few websites have displayed the wrong timetable for the HSC and SSC exams, creating panic among students as well as college heads.
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| Reading up: Students go over the notice board at an examination centre yesterday. Pic/Jignesh Mistry |
Over the past two days, helplines as well as other contact numbers of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) office were flooded with queries from principals, teachers, students appearing for the HSC examinations and parents, all asking for correct information on the exam timetable.
The HSC exams begin today, while the SSC exams are a week away.
Speaking to MiD DAY, chairperson of MSBSHSE Ujjwaladevi Patil said that the mistake was discovered a couple of days ago following complaints from a college.
"It was noticed that a major Internet search engine, when used to look for the exam timetables, was showing results that had a few websites with erroneous information. We immediately sent a letter to the websites concerned and also notified all colleges and exam centres to display the correct timetable prominently as well as instruct students to follow only the official website for timetable related information," she said.
Outdated timetableMSBSHSE secretary Shahaji Dhekne explained that the error occurred because of outdated information picked up by the websites without verification.
"Actually, this year the board had decided to put up a tentative exam timetable many months in advance in order to ease students' stress. This would give them an idea of the tentative exam schedule and they could prepare accordingly. But when the final exam schedule was prepared, some modifications were done according to holidays and convenience of students and exam centres, among other things," said Dhekne.
He said some websites picked up the tentative timetable but did not rectify it when the final timetable was prepared and the Internet, when searched, still displays links to these websites having wrong information, leading to the confusion.
Though the board issued letters to colleges well before the exam to inform them about this confusion, calls from people seeking clarity on the issue still keep coming in.
"There are calls coming in still because students rely heavily on the Internet these days. We are just making an appeal that they should go by information on the official website only or call our helplines to know the right timetable," said Dhekne.
As exams begin today, education board officials are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that no peoblem results from all the confusion.
