Writing an exam once is painful enough. Having to write it twice is just torture. And yet, that's exactly what happened to twenty SSLC students from different schools who were given the question paper meant for repeaters, at a school in Konaje. When the mistake was spotted after they finished the paper, the teachers hurriedly made them rewrite the exam and hand in their 'correct' answer scripts quickly!

After writing the first paper, the students did not realise the mistake due to similarities in the syllabus. It came to light when one of the 20 students told his friend that the paper was 'tough', especially a question that contained 21 marks. When he checked the paper, it was a different one. The aggrieved student brought it to the notice of the headmaster and left.

The school which realised it slipped up, rounded up all the students and asked them to appear for a re-exam within half an hour. The re-exam commenced at 2.30 pm. Sources quoting one of the students said that the invigilators pestered them to finish the exam fast, leaving them with not enough time to answer the questions properly.

The answer scripts were collected around 4.10 pm. DDPI Y Shivaramaiah confirmed the mistake by the examination centre. Asked about the action taken against the erring staff, he said all the staff on duty at the Centre were transferred and fresh staff were deputed.