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| Three of the four Madhyamik candidates wait for the principal in his chamber. Picture by Biplab Basak |
Jalpaiguri, March 4: Four students of St Teresa of Malbazar will lose an academic year tomorrow, when the Madhyamik examination begins, since their names were not registered with the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, despite the school authorities charging each student Rs 1,900 as registration fee.
The four were supposed to appear for the Madhyamik examination as examinees of Mahabir Hindi High School of Birpara since their own school is not registered with the board.
St Teresa’s students have been appearing for their board exams under this illegal arrangement for the past three years, since their own school does not have the permission to teach beyond Class VIII.
As Deepak, Debranjan, Suman and Biswajit desperately searched for ways to get their admit cards and registration numbers, the lid over the racket of private schools tying up with government-aided registered institutions to get their students a board certificate was blown off.
This year, around 21 candidates of St Teresa School are appearing for Madhyamik from Birpara school.
In the case of these four boys, sources said, the authorities of St Teresa had failed to send the necessary documents for registration to the Birpara school authorities. During the day, worried guardians stood for hours at St Teresa School to meet the principal who did not come in.
Ratan Chakrobarty, Debranjan’s uncle said a meeting with WBBSE chairman in Calcutta yesterday brought to light that the four were not registered with the board.
“We met Dibyendu Hota yesterday. After investigations, we were told that their names had not yet been registered. We don’t know what to do now,” he said.
The guardians said they had paid the school Rs 1,900 as registration charges over the last two years in two instalments. Some even produced the receipts of the registration payments taken by the school authorities in September 2002 and July 2003.
They also pointed out that the school had charged them many times more the registration fees taken by the WBBSE, which was only Rs 20.
Angry and frustrated that they had probably lost their last bus to the Madhyamik examination, the candidates, who had come to school in search of some hope but failed to meet the principal, beat up a pack of juniors who were teasing them about their fate and broke a window pane. The guardians and teachers intervened before the scene turned ugly and dispersed the crowd of younger students.
“I had passed the selection test. I am going to lose a year for no fault of mine,” said Suman, his face downcast as he looked at the school building.
None of the school authorities were willing to comment on the matter.
Monoranjan Bhadra, the WBBSE member from Jalpaiguri said the board was looking into the issue. “The practice of charging extra and sending candidates as students of a different school is a criminal offence. This year we did not initiate any action as it would put to stake the future of many students but from next year we will take steps against these institutions,” Bhadra said.
Malbazar subdivisional officer Amal Krishna Chakrobarty said absence of formal complaints has prevented his office from taking any action. The guardians had not complained, hoping for “a miracle”.
“Since Malbazar is developing fast as the gateway to eastern Dooars, a number of English medium schools have mushroomed in the area. These schools often are not registered and pay little attention to imparting quality education,” said a guardian of one of the four students.
The headmaster of the Mahabir Hindi High School of Birpara was not available for comments.