Bhubaneswar, June 12: A student attempted suicide when she found there were no changes in her marks following declaration of revaluated CBSE results for Class XII.
The student was one of the 18 who had moved Orissa High Court seeking revaluation of their answer sheets. She took an overdose of prescription drugs, following which she was admitted to a private hospital here.
The board authorities mailed the revaluated results to the 18 students at midnight. After revaluation of 51 papers, there has been no change in 33 answer sheets. However, there has been reduction in marks in 15 answer sheets, and an insignificant increase in three sheets.
Hundreds of students applied for a photocopy of their answer sheets by taking the RTI route.
Clearing the air over the alleged discrepancies in the marks of Class XII students, the CBSE today said the final status of the candidates placed in the failed category remained unchanged even after revaluation.
"There is an attempt from some section of the people to malign the unquestioned reputation of the CBSE system. But, the board has put in place a very fair and transparent system and all its policies are in the public domain," said Manoj Kumar Srivastav, joint secretary (academics).
Another 400 students have filed mass petition in the high court today seeking revaluation of their answer sheets. But, the board has clarified that it would do no further revaluation.
"We have filed a review petition for a modified order. We will continue with the rechecking process though," added Srivastav.
The board has received around 9,000 applications for rechecking from the Bhubaneswar region, while protests continued at the CBSE office here. A large number of students in the Bhubaneswar region applied for getting a photocopy of their answer sheets by paying Rs 10 per paper through the RTI route.
If they had applied through the CBSE, the price for verification per subject would have been Rs 500, and that for obtaining photocopy Rs 700 per subject.
However, a Supreme Court order states: "Answer sheet falls within the definition of information and every student has right to seek a copy of the her/his answer sheet within 48 hours of filing RTI application as per section 7(1) of the RTI Act."
Students are compulsorily required to go through the process of verification of marks whereby the CBSE has prescribed a fee which ultimately make students eligible to apply for getting copies of answer sheets.
But, a student who wishes to have access to his/her answer sheet will have to shell out Rs 1,200 per subject. Students felt that they should have the right to see what marks the evaluator had given and, therefore, charging Rs 1,200 subject was not justified.
A student of Rotary Public School, Angul, Abhishek Dash, said: "I have received 2,7 and 2 marks in the theory papers in mathematics, physics and chemistry. I have to apply both for rechecking and I also have to get a copy of the evaluated sheets. So, I have to spend Rs 1,200 for each subject, which is a lot of money. So, all of us have come together to take the RTI route."
The Class XII students and the Odisha Abhibhabak Mahasangh, an association of parents, had on June 10 moved the Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) highlighting the mental agony the students were facing due to faulty evaluation of answer sheets by the CBSE.
The commission today sent a notice to the CBSE to look into the matter and take urgent action.
Yesterday, parents and students accused the board officials of threatening to shift its regional office from here if they continued with their protests and vandalise their properties.
