In the old days, newspapers, besides ferrying the news, displayed posters of the latest movies running in town, the lottery and the examination results. The movie posters usually appeared on page 2 of the English broadsheet and contained the names of the theatres screening them together with the show timings. Many famous movies with marathon runs of 100 days or more found special mention. The lottery and examination results filled the following three or four pages. Today newspapers have consigned these rituals to history.
Lottery-crazy citizens chasing the elusive stroke of luck were a dime a dozen. Many frittered away their hard-earned money by buying raffle tickets at the nearest agency, hoping to reap a fortune. Then, on the result day, they would shuffle to the nearest lottery outlet or scan the daily newspaper with a fine-tooth comb hoping to strike rich. But, unfortunately, lady luck seldom favoured them, and many of them ended up squandering money!
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In an era when the majority had no access to quality education, passing the matriculation examination was considered a significant milestone and a passport to higher education. So naturally, the results containing the roll numbers of successful students found pride of place in the dailies. The SSLC results gobbled up much of the inside pages, while the photographs of the rank holders found prominence on the front page. Many, including bright students, kept their fingers crossed, unsure what the results would be. Before the formation of the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) in 1966, Mysore University did the honours of despatching the SSLC marks cards.
In the old days, a candidate who failed in one or more subjects had to retake the whole exam. Sometimes a student, who had cleared some and failed in others, would see his fate take a dramatic twist when taking the supplementary exams — coming out unsuccessful in the subjects passed earlier and passing the difficult ones. The process had to be repeated from scratch all over again. But the string of failures led many repeaters to throw the towel on their academic careers.
Although the primitive system had its demerits, it provided a window for compensating the ‘borderline cases’ (the unfortunate ones who failed in a single subject). Their marks card bore the legend: “Eligible for public service” (EPS). They were, however, barred from entering college. But the marks card of successful candidates with the words: “Eligible for college and public service” (ECPS) printed on them made them eligible for job seeking and admission to intermediary courses.
Initially, college education comprised two years of intermediary studies and two years of degree courses. Subsequently, the authorities changed it to one year of intermediary and three years of degree courses. But unlike the bygone era, we don’t have the pleasure of seeing the roll numbers in the newsprint today; online exams give faster results, relieving students of stress and anxiety.
