DUBAI - A number of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools in the UAE have urged their students to reach exam centres early for the boards that commence in March.
The directive from principals follows an incident last year when some Grade XII students nearly missed their board exams, after being held up in traffic on the Sharjah-Dubai highway.
“We have told our students that they must reach the exam centres at least half an hour before the exams commence as they cannot take risks with the unpredictable traffic,” said Michael Guzder, principal of Millennium School, whose four students were caught in the jam last year. Since the school buses invariably get delayed in traffic, the school has asked students to reach the examination centre on their own, albeit early to escape the traffic chaos.
Similarly, Our Own Indian School has also instructed its students to
arrive early at the school premises so they can be dropped to the centre well in advance.
“We are making arrangements to take students to the centre as early as 8. They come to our school, after which the buses take the students to the centre,” said R.K. Nayar, vice-principal of New Indian Model School, Dubai.
A few schools from the UAE had even sent letters to the CBSE head office in India, after the incident, requesting them to consider starting exams later due to the traffic problems in Dubai and Sharjah. The issue was again raised at the annual CBSE conference held in Dubai on February 4. Officials however have turned down the request calling it impractical. “A change of time is just not possible as CBSE exams are conducted throughout India and in several other countries at the same time. How can we have a separate time for Dubai?” demanded MC Sharma, Controller of Examinations at CBSE, New Delhi.
“It is logistically not possible,” Sharma told Khaleej Times by telephone.
KT reported last year that four girls from Millennium School, travelling together, were stranded on the Sharjah-Dubai road for over two hours.
The girls, who left their homes as early as 6.45am to reach their centres by 9, were caught in traffic for nearly two hours. The girls, out of desperation, finally got out of their car and walked a distance before the school bus was rushed to pick them up.