Bihar exam centre in soup for snipping sleeves

An examination centre in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district has triggered a controversy after videos surfaced of examiners "in full public view" forcibly cutting into half the sleeves of girl students who were wearing full sleeves. Examinees protested that they had no prior information about the "rules". In another centre in Vaishali, male students appearing for competitive exam to various certificate and diploma courses in polytechnic institutes, were asked to remove their shirts and T-shirts before entering the exam hall.

Following an uproar, the district magistrate formed a two-member team to probe the incident. The education department also conducted an inquiry and has barred the school from holding competitive exams in future.

District Education Officer Lalan Prasad Singh said, "The intention of the exercise was not questionable and care was taken to involve only female staff, but the problem was that the candidates were made to resize the sleeves in full public view."

Examiners also justified the action and said, "The move was to ensure that the examinees did not indulge in any unfair practices."

"The students had been told in advance to wear half-sleeve dresses. Hence, those who appeared in three-quarter or full sleeve apparels, were asked to either get their sleeves cut or skip the examination," said an invigilator.

The examinees, however, countered saying they had no idea about any such rule.

Meanwhile, in Vaishali, a source informed, "As per the order of the district administration, students were not allowed to wear full-sleeves or shoes. Those wearing full-shirts or T-shirts were asked to open it, before entering the exam hall. As a result several examinees wrote their exam in vests or even naked. Candidates wearing shoes wrote their papers barefoot."

— With PTI inputs