I had not expected to top. Whatever answers I knew, I had written, said Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB)'s Intermediate Arts 2017 topper Ganesh Kumar.
Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB)'s Intermediate Arts 2017 topper Ganesh Kumar, who was untraceable since the declaration of the results on Tuesday, surfaced at his school in Samastipur on Thursday where he kicked off a fresh controversy by failing to answer basic questions related to music, a subject in which he has scored 65/70 in the practical.
Ganesh has brought back memories of BSEB's 2016 Humanities "topper" Ruby Rai, who had stirred the hornet's nest when she had said that her subject "prodikal science" was related to cookery. The investigations ultimately exposed the "topper scam", a nexus of school administrators, BSEB officials and education mafias, for granting top merit positions in exchange of money.
A resident of Giridih in Jharkhand, Ganesh, 24, has scored a total of 413/500 marks leaving behind 5.33 lakh students of the Humanities stream. Ganesh has scored a maximum of 92 marks in Hindi followed by 83 in Music (65/70 in practical and 18/30 in theory).
While talking to media persons in Samastipur on Thursday, Ganesh said he had gone outside Bihar for the last rites of his uncle and came back when he got to know that the results had been declared. "I had not expected to top. Whatever answers I knew, I had written. Jo nahi aata tha, usko thoda bana kar likh diya acche se…" he said.
Ganesh, however, was uneasy when reporters pitched forth some queries from music subject. To a question on "Sur aur taal kya hai?" Ganesh said, "Jo humlog gaana mein ek lamba sa raag taante hai, usko sur ke naam se jaante hai aur taal ke saath jo bhi gaane gaate hai usko taal kehte hai." When asked how many "taal" were there in music, he wrongly replied three, naming them as "madhyam taal" and "sur taal".
When one reporter asked him a question related to "Raag Bhairvi", Ganesh said, "It is sung at night" though Bhairvi is a popular morning raag. When asked to name a few "gharanas" of music, he said, "I had read about them during my music studies… Pandit Ravi Shankar Ji and Hari Chaurasia."
When Ganesh tried to play the harmonium to sing the songs, which he had sung in his practical exam, the song "Yaad aa rahi hai, teri yaad aa rahi hai", was completely out of tune with the instrument.
This student of RNSJN Utkramit Madhya Vidyalaya, Samastipur, came under a scanner when he was untraceable for two days after the declaration of the results. Questions were also raised as to why he had taken admission in a school, which had got affiliation in 2013 and was 250 km away from his hometown and why no date of admission or local address was mentioned on his form, despite him being a regular student.
School's principal in charge Abhitendra Kumar, who has a political background, too said he didn't expect any students from his school to top. "But, who can say who has merit within him," he said.
Bihar education minister, Ashok Choudhary, who met CM Nitish Kumar again on Thursday, defended the "topper" after coming out of the meet, and said, "were those interviewing him experts in the subject?" He denied any bungling in the merit list and said few people only wanted to point out negative things.
BSEB Chairman Anand Kishore, in a late-evening press meet, said it has been the Board's policy to conduct practical exams at home centres. "However, we have got to know through the media, that in this particular case, infrastructure was not adequate at the school. We will probe it and if found true, action will be taken against it."
Better than 5.33 lakh students?
A resident of Giridih in Jharkhand, Ganesh, 24, has scored a total of 413/500 marks leaving behind 5.33 lakh students of the Humanities stream. Ganesh has scored a maximum of 92 marks in Hindi followed by 83 in Music (65/70 in practical and 18/30 in theory).
A simple student
"He is a simple student, who was okay in his studies. Who knows who has diamond in his pocket (who has merit within him)? That is for the examination board to find out"
~ Abhitendra Kumar, principal in charge of Ganesh Kumar's college, when asked what type of student was Ganesh
"Conducting practical exams at home centre has been the norm of Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) since it was established. However, after this incident, we may in the long run reconsider this policy decision, especially for private colleges"
Anand Kishor, BSEB Chairman, when asked that Ganesh Kumar could not answer basic music questions despite scoring 65/70 in the practical.
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