In Punjab, 4200 'students' from as far back as 2004 pay Rs 6 crore to try and clear X, XII boards — one last golden time

Students who had been unable to clear Class X and XII exams since 2004 in Punjab paid Rs 15,000 each, amounting to a total of Rs 6 crore, as exam fees to the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB). While 2,563 Class X students enrolled for the special exam on the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak, a total of 1,645 candidates for Class XII have enrolled for the same — ‘Golden Chance’ exam, reported Indian Express. That makes a total of 4,208 online applications.

PSEB sources said that this is not the first time. Earlier, such an exam was organised for students in 2011, and the fee was Rs 3,000. It was for students from 1970 onwards. Nearly 20,800 students had appeared in the 2011 Golden Chance exam and the board had earned around Rs 6.24 crore from the same. More students had applied at the time, considering the nominal fee.

The PSEB issued a public notice, giving old unsuccessful candidates who got a ‘re-appear’ result and those who wanted to improve their result, a chance to sit for the ‘Golden Chance Supplementary’ exam for a fee of Rs 15,000. The website says that ‘regular’ candidates (from March 2004 to March 2018) and those under the ‘open’ category (from March 2004 to March 2016) are eligible to appear for the ‘Golden Chance’ exams.

The questions will be set as per the 2018-19 syllabus. Some applicants from 2002 and 2003 have also applied, requesting that their application be accepted but a decision on this is yet to be taken, reported Indian Express.

According to PSEB rules, a Class X student is declared fail if he/she fails in three or more subjects, and given a chance to ‘reappear’ if he/she fails in less than three subjects. He/she is given two chances to clear the ‘re-appear’. For Class XII, a student is declared failed if he/she fails in two or more subjects and given a chance to ‘re-appear’ if he/she fails in one subject.

J R Mehrok, controller examinations, PSEB, said that Golden Chance exam is open for all students from 2004-2018 who got a ‘re-appear’ or want to improve their result. “Even if they appeared in re-appear exams in two chances given thereafter as per rules and failed, then also they can apply,” he added.

The fee this year, sought in the name of Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary celebrations, has been criticised widely, with some saying it was against his teachings of Guru Nanak and a “money-making” initiative by the board.