As outrage grew over a student in Kerala being asked to remove her top inner wear at a medical entrance test, four teachers at the exam centre in a school were today suspended by the CBSE which also ordered the principal to apologise to her.

The directive for the apology came after Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Chairman RK Chaturvedi met Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi.

An ‘overzealous’ act

The CBSE described the incident that occurred before the girl was allowed to sit for the exam on Sunday as an “overzealous” act and suspended the four teachers pending inquiry. The incident also rocked the Kerala Assembly.

In a related incident, examination officials at a school in Ernakulam in Kerala were booked for allegedly trimming the shirt sleeves of a student as part of the CBSE’s steps to curb cheating in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), held on May 7.

The CBSE, which conducts the examination at over 1,900 centres across India for admission to undergraduate medical and dentistry courses, however, defended the stringent dress code it had imposed.

It was a measure to “secure the sanctity” of the high-stake examination in which 11 lakh students vie for 95,000 seats, it said.

“The incident reported in Kannur is unfortunate and a consequence of the overzealousness of a few persons involved in the process. However, the inconvenience caused to the students inadvertently in the process is regretted by the Board,” CBSE spokesperson Rama Sharma said in New Delhi.

Sharma said the principal had been directed to apologise to the candidate who was made to remove her inner wear and added that the Board would “sensitise” the frisking staff at exam centres to prevent such incidents.

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