New dilemma for Telangana Inter students: How to keep track of time at exam centres?

Absence of wall clocks in examination rooms adds further pressure to existing stress of producing correct answers

Hyderabad: They are racing against time but without a clock in sight. This is the situation of several thousands of students who are appearing for the ongoing Intermediate Public Examinations, which concludes on March 25.

For several students who took the first three exams, the absence of wall clocks in the examination rooms has added further pressure to the existing stress of producing correct answers.

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After several complaints from students and parents, the Telangana Board of Intermediate Education (TG BIE) on Saturday finally stepped in, instructing its officials to install wall clocks in all the examination halls.

In a message circulated to District Intermediate Public Educational Officers, the Board directed them to inform all Chief Superintendents (CS) and departmental officers to install a wall clock on or before Monday and post photos of the same in the WhatsApp group. The TG BIE sanctioned Rs 1,000 or more for the purchase of wall clocks.

The Board’s sudden decision did not go down well with officials on examination duty. They asked how can they buy a wall clock for Rs 100 for a college, which is holding the examination in 10 rooms.

An examination centre chief superintendent said the BIE should have made proper arrangements for wall clocks before the commencement of the exams. “How can we purchase a wall clock for Rs 100 for the college, which has 10 rooms, from the sanctioned Rs 1,000? After enquiries, we got a deal for Rs 200 for each wall clock, excluding batteries. We are meeting expenses from our own pockets as it is the Board’s directive,” a CS said, on condition of anonymity.

Welcoming the move to install wall clocks for the students’ convenience, Telangana Gazetted Junior Lecturers Association-475 president Dr V Srinivas and general secretary Dr K Suresh urged the Board to buy the clocks in bulk and hand them over to centres as clocks at Rs 100 a piece cannot be bought from the sanctioned amount.

The issue stemmed after the Board barred students from wearing wristwatches in exam centres this year. Students lamented that several centres neither arranged for a wall clock nor allowed wristwatches to be worn, making it difficult for them to keep track of time. However, the Board officials said centres were instructed to ring the bell every half an hour, informing students about the remaining exam time.