Amid ongoing farmers’ protest, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) issued an advisory on Wednesday for the students appearing in the board exams in view of the traffic restrictions imposed in Delhi, advising them to leave their homes early to arrive at the examination centres in time. With school board examinations slated to begin from Thursday, residents of areas near Delhi's Tikri and Singhu borders are worried about how children will reach examination centres amid traffic and security restrictions in view of the farmers' protest.
Traffic restrictions are currently in place in the national capital in view of the farmers' "Delhi Chalo" march. The class 10th and 12th board exams are set to commence from Thursday, with nearly 5.8 lakh students will take the exams across 877 centres in Delhi.
"As the examination starts at 10.30 am, hence, all the students have been directed to reach their examination centres on or before 10 am," the advisory read. It cited the current situation in Delhi and said it is expected that there will be traffic issues that might cause a delay in reaching the examination centres. "Hence, all the students are advised to leave their homes early so that they can reach well on time as per instructions issued by the CBSE. It is advisable to use metro services to reach the examination centres which are playing smoothly," it read.
The advisory also requested all the students of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) across India and other countries to plan their journeys to reach the examination centres on or before 10 am, looking into the local conditions, traffic, weather conditions, distance etc., as the students will be allowed to enter the centres only up to 10 am and not thereafter. "All schools are requested to help and guide the parents and students. Students are once again advised to visit their examination centres in advance and make a plan for their travel so that they can arrive before or on time on all examination days," it added.
Adding to their woes, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has called a 'Bharat Bandh' on Friday in support of the 'Delhi Chalo' agitation -- a march by farmers of Punjab to the national capital to press the Centre to accept their demands, including the enactment of a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
The restrictions in areas around the Delhi-Haryana border points, which have been fortified with metal barricades and concrete blocks to stop farmers from entering the city, came into effect on Tuesday, the day the march began. Children are not being able to reach coaching classes, how will they reach examination centres, a local of Tikri said and added that the restrictions have added to the concern of parents, who are already battling the "stress of exams".
A group of girls, whose exam centre is the Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Tikri Kalan, said because of the restrictions, they would have to leave home early as the school is around seven kilometers from their village.
"We don't have a vehicle. So we might have to leave early and look for an auto or a bus to reach our exam centre in time," said a girl of the group that travelled from Mundaka to visit their centre.
Those who have vehicles have decided to use the metro rail to avoid traffic jams. "My exam centre is in south Delhi's Mehrauli, which is around 40 km away. I have to reach the centre at 8 am. I won't travel by car due to heavy traffic. Instead, I will take the metro to reach there," said Suraj Upadhyay, a class 12 student and resident of Tikri border.
Pallavi, a student of a CBSE school living near the Singhu border, said, "I have planned to leave my home three to four hours early as I have to go to DAV Pritampura for my exam. I can wait for an hour outside the centre but I cannot be late." A woman, who resides near the Singhu border, said, "There are a lot of traffic restrictions because of which children are not able to go for coaching centre or play." "This is impacting their studies and may affect their scores in the exams," another parent said.
On the SKM's decision, a parents group said that "as concerned parents, we are in agony and compelled to raise our voices against the proposed nationwide strike or bandh on February 16" and appeal it to reconsider their bandh call.
"Our children have been working hard while preparing for these examinations. However, their hard work could go in vain if they are unable to reach their examination centres due to railroad blockades and non-availability of transport services," it said.
Traffic across Delhi's border regions was disrupted on the second day of the protest due to blockades created by security forces to stop farmers from marching into the national capital. On Grand Trunk Road, which connects Delhi to Punjab via Haryana, vehicles were redirected for the last 20 km through side roads. Multiple layers of barricades, concrete blocks, iron nails and container walls have been placed at the city’s border points – Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri – to thwart the farmers’ march.