SSC exams begin: Students rush for last-min concessions

A day before Class 10 exams of the state education board begin, the Mumbai divisional board, which consists of Thane, Raigad and Palghar, on Monday was busy processing

A day before Class 10 exams of the state education board begin, the Mumbai divisional board, which consists of Thane, Raigad and Palghar, on Monday was busy processing last-minute applications of students and requests for special concessions. At least 200 fresh exam registrations were processed.

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Nearly 1.85 lakh students who have opted for first languages other than English would write their paper today. Altogether, over 3.91 lakh students have been registered under the Mumbai division. A day before the exams, long queues were seen at the divisional board office in Vashi. Many were students who have suffered injuries in recent accidents and had come to apply for last-minute concessions. “We help students get concessions if they have all the requisite documents and if the case is found to be genuine. Our goal is to ensure not a single child is deprived of his/her rights,” said Sandeep Sangave, secretary of the Mumbai divisional board.

On Monday, at least 20 students with fractures in their right hand came to the divisional office for concessions. Shoheb Qureshi, from Bandra’s Ramakrishna School in Kherwadi, spent an entire day at the board office because on his medical certificate, the doctor had written “head” instead of “hand”. “We had all the appropriate documents. But we were shocked when the board official pointed out the error,” said Shoheb’s mother, adding that they also needed to find a writer for him. Shoheb, whose first exam is today, met with an accident last Monday.

Some schools also sent last minute registration requests for private candidates, citing they could not apply due to “unforeseen circumstances”. The deadline exam registration was August 30, 2019, for regular students and November 15, 2019, for private candidates. However, in cases where students have failed to fill forms within the deadline, the board allows them to pay late fees amounting to ₹ 200 for each day past the deadline. Officials said that as per this calculation, registration fees for those applying a day or two before the exams may go up to ₹9,000.