Over 50 students in Orissa refused to take their Class XII examination paper after they were refused permission to cheat, media reports said on Saturday.
At least 56 students of Priyadarsini Indira College, in the western district of Kalahandi, had requested the principal that they be allowed to copy the answers from their text books for an English paper. When they were refused, the irate students tore the examination papers and left the examination hall, the Oriya daily Sambad reported.
The police were rushed to bring the situation under control. The other students appeared in the examination, the paper said.
In their defence, the boycotting students alleged that their teachers were not taking classes regularly and as a result they could not read English. "When we cannot read, how will we answer," some maintained.