A private college that is located in the Indian state of Karnataka has managed to come into controversial limelight after pictures emerged where the students can be seen wearing cardboard boxes while attempting a chemistry exam. The pictures have gone viral on social media.
As soon as pictures of students wearing cardboard boxes on their heads started gaining traction online, regional officials in Karnataka quickly came to Bhagat Pre-University College to complain about the ‘inhumane’ treatment that the students were suffering.
Various versions of the story soon flooded the internet. One of those versions also included that the college resorted to this tactic after it ended up catching students continuing to cheat even after multiple warnings. Education Minister S Suresh Kumar said, ‘This is totally unacceptable. Nobody has any right to treat anybody more so students like animals. This perversion will be dealt with aptly.’
Deputy Director of Public Instruction Department, SS Piraje, said, ‘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. We will take strong actions against the college after the completion of the inquiry. We have already served a notice to the college and are waiting for the reply by the institutions. Once received, we will proceed with our inquiry.’
Bhagat Pre-University College officials admitted that it did make the students don cardboard boxes on their heads. However, they were quick to add that students had given their consent and even brought their own boxes. Principal MB Satish said, ‘They said they were comfortable with the trial, the college did not harass any student, it was optional, and some students experimented, some did not. Our measures are for the betterment of students. We don’t want students to get diverted at the time of taking examinations. The measures were taken as an experiment, and we received both positive and negative feedback.’
Bhagat Pre-University College also said that it went ahead with this bizarre experiment after it witnessed it being used in the Indian state of Bihar. The experiment was received with commendation in Bihar. However, the experiment backfired in Bhagat.