In a strange incident that took the entire nation by shock, private college students in Karnataka were made to wear cardboard boxes while writing an exam to allegedly stop them from malpractice. It is cognisance of the fact that students are cheating during exams even after repeated warnings.
In a bid to put an end all this, the college has implemented this idea. But, the college now is facing a massive backlash after photos of the incident started doing the rounds on social media.
The incident happened at Bhagat Pre-University College of Haveri district and came to view after a member of the college management identified as Sateesh Herur, posted to his Facebook account the images of the students wearing the cardboard boxes. The photos were clicked on Wednesday and posted on the same day.
The caption to Herur’s post read: “It’s our college midterm exam today. That is Bhagat PU College, Haveri.”
The state government quickly issued a notice to the college and then sought an explanation about why the students were made to wear cardboard boxes, the move was confirmed by Deputy Director of Public Instruction Department, SC Peerjade
“We have clearly told the management to give a written explanation and if this kind of incident is repeated in the future, the department will cancel the license of the school,” Peerjade said.
However, MB Sateesh, a director of the college, said, “We implemented this idea to curb malpractice and not to harass students. This is just an experiment. We discussed it with students and took their consent before implementing it.”
Sateesh further added that the college will comply with the board’s directive. “We are following all rules imposed by the PU department,” he said.
Peerjade said, “When I got a message on this, I immediately went to the college and ordered the management to stop the practice. I also issued a notice to the college management and am contemplating disciplinary action against them for implementing this idea.”
Peerjade also added that he had advised students to alert the department when such practices are imposed by the management.
“This is inhuman and civilized society will never accept such an idea. I hope this is never repeated again;’ Peerjade said. “There are traditional ways of managing students and preventing malpractice in the examination hall and the college can resort to them.”
(With inputs from TNN)