Berhampur: Eighty-five students of an upper primary school failed to sit for the Modern Indian Language (Odia) paper on the first day of their annual exam on Friday, as guardians locked up the institute's gate demanding immediate transfer of four teachers.

The guardians did not allow students of Khairapalli Upper Primary School in Khajapalli panchayat of Kabisurya Nagar block in Ganjam district to enter the school campus, said block education officer Sudhansu Sekhar Patra.

"All of the four teachers are always engaged in blame game, badly hampering the study. We locked up the main gate of the school and demanded transfer of all the four teachers," said the school management committee president Gourahari Bhuyan, whose wife happens to be the local sarpanch.

The school teachers visited Patra's office after the guardians had locked up the school gate.

The block education officer visited the school for an inquiry and discussed the issue with the irate guardians, teachers, local leaders and the students. He said: "As the guardians insisted on the immediate transfer of all the four existing teachers, we have decided to send them to some other schools on deputation."

"Two new teachers would be appointed in Khairapalli Upper Primary School from Saturday. There would be two examination sittings on Saturday from 7am to 8.30am and 9.30am to 11am. The students, who could not appear for the Odia paper on Friday, would take the test in in the second sitting," Patra said.

In another development, students of an upper primary school at Papdahandi in Nabarangpur district faced difficulties at their annual examination on Friday as the question papers did not reach the school in time. While the test was scheduled to begin at 7am and to continue till 8.30 am, the question papers had not reached the school till 10am.

Situated at a distance of about 10km from the district headquarters town of Nabarangpur, the school has strength of 277 students. "As the question papers reached the school three hours late, we decided to conduct the examination in the afternoon, as there is a provision of taking the test as and when the question paper arrives," said principal K. Indra. However, officials said inquiry would be conducted to find out why the question papers did not reach the school on time.