Students of govt-run and aided schools keep out of 'Pareeksha pe Charcha' with PM

Students of state-run and state-aided schools in West Bengal did not participate in 'Pareeksha pe Charcha' with Prime Minister Narendra Modi today after the state education minister said such interaction was not possible ahead of the Board examinations.

A principal of an Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE) school in the city said no arrangement was made in his institution for ICSE candidates to interact with the prime minister.

"We don't have any information about any state-run secondary/higher secondary school or any state-aided school having made arrangements to make its students see the prime minister's interaction live on video in the school compound," a senior official of state education department told PTI.
 

He said the students were now busy with preparations for the upcoming Madhyamik (Secondary) and Uchha Madhyamik (Higher Secondary) examinations and many schools and colleges were busy in making preparations for conducting the examinations.

There are over 160 state-run and state-aided secondary and higher secondary schools in the city and neighbouring districts.

A source in the ICSE council, city office, said he did not have any update about the number of schools having attended the programme.

State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee had said yesterday, "No student of West Bengal will find the time to listen to the prime minister's speech since they are busy in last minute preparations for the upcoming Board examinations."

"With Madhyamik and Uchha Madhyamik examinations round the corner tell me what is the first priority of a candidate?" he had asked.

In his 'Pareeksha pe Charcha' address at the Talkatora Stadium in Delhi, Modi today stressed on the importance of confidence and concentration in dealing with exam stress.

The speech was webcast by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

"Today, I am a student and you are my examiner. You can give me marks out of 10 later. Don't think of me as the prime minister but as a friend," Modi said, responding to questions from the students gathered at the stadium as well as those who wrote in their queries and doubts.