Hundreds of students at a premier school in Noida on Wednesday, March 3,
2004 took part in a special prayer ceremony to seek divine blessing ahead of
their career-determining high school examinations, considered to be most
crucial.
Organized by a school in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, the ritual
was performed with full Hindu rites, as the priest chanted Vedic hymns
invoking Saraswati, the Goddess of learning.
"Well, the purpose is to bring mental peace to the children before they
appear for the exams, that is one purpose, and that is why all the children
are attending it. We specifically told them to meditate and concentrate on the
prayer and Gayatri mantra (a Vedic
chant), so that they are calm and peaceful before they are going in for the
exams, and can go with a clear mind. The other purpose is to give them
blessings," Mohina Darr, principal of the Amity International School, said.
Poonam Sharma, a secondary school student, appearing for her first board
paper, said she felt much eased after the prayers. Sharma said:
"I was feeling very tense earlier, but after attending this
havan I feel quite at ease. I believe in
God,"
Examination for the senior secondary or XII standard, being conducted by
the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), began on Monday, March 1,
2004.
Over 900,000 children across India will be appearing for their standard
10th and 12th papers, conducted annually by the country's main education
board.
Besides CBSE, each of the 29 states and six federally administered Union
Territories have their own school examination boards following different
textbooks and courses including some compulsory regional languages, where
millions of students take the examinations very year.
