Exam snack break

TT, New Delhi, Feb. 20: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is set to take the lead in the country by allowing students with type 1 diabetes a snack break during the board examinations.

The national board has decided to give the permission from this year during Class X and Class XII board examinations, officials said. A notification with the details will be issued this week, they said.

Type 1 diabetes affects children. Two years ago, a review of type 1 diabetes by Ashok Kumar Das at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, had estimated that the prevalence ranges from 18 in one lakh children in Karnataka to 3 in one lakh children in Chennai and 10 in one lakh children in Haryana.

Given that about 25 lakh students sit for the board examination, this will mean a few dozen to a few hundred students across the country are likely to benefit from the proposal to allow snacks during the exams.

Former CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly welcomed the move. He said there was no clarity about the magnitude of the problem when he was the chairman. With new research suggesting the need for dietary support, the move by the CBSE would inspire other boards too, he said.

"This is a good experiment. I think other boards will follow it as a model," Ganguly said.

The CBSE will conduct the board examinations next month.