A CBSE examinee attempted self-immolation in school, near capital Ranchi, soon after his physical education practical test on Monday morning, the suspected trigger being study pressure.

That the Class XII student of Lala Lajpat Rai Senior Secondary School, Pundag, walked into the campus, teeming with 1,400 children, armed with a bottle of petrol and a matchbox calls for heightened monitoring of porous institution premises across the state as much as it underscores the need for counselling ahead of exams.

The boy, who will turn 17 this August, is battling 65 per cent burns at a private hospital on Itki Road. An FIR has been registered at Pundag thana outpost, but police have refused to make "conclusive comments" on what led to the extreme action before investigations are completed.

According to school sources, the incident took place around 11.30am, when apart from students 100-odd teaching and non-teaching staff were present on the Pundag campus, which is situated 12km from the capital.

A student who witnessed the incident claimed the boy - a native of Ara in Bihar who lives in Harmu with his cousin - was upset over his performance in the practical examination. "Some physical education questions were out of syllabus and he could not answer them. He was frustrated; went inside another classroom and tried to kill himself," the Class IX girl told this newspaper over phone, refusing to be named and her voice still panic-stricken.

Lala Lajpat Rai Senior Secondary School is an English-medium institution set up in 1982. Sprawling over three acres, it boasts modern facilities including 10 CCTV cameras.

School principal P.K. Thakur sounded no less flabbergasted when he said he had never encountered such an emergency on campus in his entire teaching career.

"I heard screams and rushed out of my chamber. I saw the boy covered in flames coming out of a classroom. It was a horrifying sight. I grabbed a coat and threw it on him," said Thakur, who managed to stub out the fire but sustained blisters on his hands in the process.

"We sent him to the nearest Devkamal Hospital on our school bus along with four members of staff. The boy, who is an average student, had come prepared. He had brought a bottle of petrol and a matchbox, which we later found in the classroom," the principal added.

Dr Anant Sinha of Devkamal Hospital said the boy had told him he was under great stress. "He told me his father had died a few years ago and his mother lived in their village in Bihar. He was under pressure to perform and took the extreme step unable to cope with expectations," the doctor said, adding that the teen was stable, but critical.

City SP Kishore Kaushal said the boy had told Pundag police that he was not happy with the methods of teaching at Lala Lajpat Rai Senior Secondary School. "However, we cannot draw conclusions at this juncture. An FIR has been lodged and the case is under investigation," Kaushal added.

The boy's cousin in Harmu, who works for civil contractors, could not be contacted. A friend said the family was clueless why the teenager attempted self-immolation. "They are in a state of shock," the friend said.

CBSE Class XII theory papers are slated to begin from March 9. It is unlikely that the boy will be able to appear for them, doctors treating him in the ICU said.