The entrance test for admissions to classes, VI, VII and IX of Simultala Residential School was held at 43 examination centres across the state on Sunday.
The test was necessitated since 2016 and 2013 were declared zero sessions with no admission of students taking place.
Miller High School and Sir Ganesh Dutt Patliputra High School in Kadamkuan were the examination centres in Patna.
Guddy Kumari, a student at Dumri High School in Punpun, who appeared for the entrance test for Class VI, came out of Miller School smiling. She said: "The paper was easy as most questions where from Class V and some portions from Class VI." She was optimistic about her admission at Simultala Residential School.
Her father, Ajay Kumar, a tractor driver, said: "If my daughter gains admission in Simultala, her future is secure. The school, which imparts free education to students, is considered the best government school in Bihar." The paper comprised 150 objective questions, each carrying one mark.
Echoing Ajay's views, a student, Sumit Kumar, who took the Class IX entrance examination, said: " Though a few years ago, there were reports about delay in the academic session at Simultala Residential School, the school has maintained its status in producing a large number of first division students. We have come to know that the school has the best teachers and focuses on all-round development of students."
The statement assumes importance as the first batch of Simultala Residential School had topped the matriculation results in 2015, with 30 of the 31 students clinching the top 10 ranks were from Simultala Residential School.
Though students consider Simultala School as an institution to brighten their future, the school has been losing its sheen over the past few years, at least considering the number of applicants for admission.
This year the school has received 19,300 applications for all three classes. For Class VI, there was around 11,800 applications, for Class VII, around 4,200 applications and for Class IX, the school has received around 3,350 applications. The school is going to admit 120 students (60 boys and 60 girls) each in three classes.
A former official of Simultala Residential School, preferring anonymity, said: "The popularity of Simultala Residential School, set up on the pattern of Netarhat Residential School of Jharkhand is on the wane. In the first year of its inception in 2010, the school had received around 35,000 applications for admission of 120 students in Class VI." "This year, the school is admitting 360 students in three classes, but the school has received around 19,000 applications."
Irregular academic session, the school being run from temporary campus even after seven years of its inception and indiscipline among students are some of the reasons behind school's decline.
However, Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has taken steps to regularise its academic session by announcing the entrance test to the school date a year in advance so that the school academic calendar doesn't get delayed. The preliminary test for the 2018-19 academic session of Simultala Residential School will be held on December 24, while the main test will be held on February 4.
The school, a dream project of chief minister Nitish Kumar, was gifted to the people of Bihar in August 2010.
