Madhyamik examinee injured as ceiling fan falls during exam in Maheshtala
Telegraph | 21 February 2025
A ceiling fan came crashing down, injuring a Madhyamik examinee who was writing her life science paper in Maheshtala, South 24-Parganas, on Wednesday.
The fan did not land on the student, but the blades grazed past the left side of her head.
Nandini Makal, the student, had to be admitted to hospital.
Fifteen-year-old Nandini, a student of Bangla Jatiya Siksha Mandir in Batanagar in South 24-Parganas, was writing the examination at Sri Ramkrishna Ashram Vivekananda Vidyamandir, also in Batanagar, when the accident occurred.
The ceiling fan came crashing down a few minutes after the exam started.
“The fan landed between two students around 11.20am. The blades grazed Nandini’s head on its way,” a teacher said.
Nandini started crying unable to bear the pain, sources said.
Anita Bhattacharya, the student who was seating beside Nandini, said: “The fan came off the ceiling without any sound. The blades of the fan grazed past the left side of her head while landing on the bench with a thud.”
“Nandini lay on the bench after she got injured. She seemed to be in acute pain and was unable to raise her right hand,” said Anita.
The fan was on as it was hot inside the examination hall.
Amit Bhattacharya, teacher-in-charge, Sri Ramkrishna Ashram Vivekananda Vidyamandir, said: “Luckily, nothing serious happened to her. The blades of the fan grazed past her hair while landing on the bench. The student was traumatised. We provided her first-aid at the school and then took her to MR Bangur Hospital. She wrote the examination from the hospital.”
“We informed the officials of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education about the accident. The board granted her additional time, enabling her to finish the examination,” he said.
When asked how the fan came off, Bhattacharya said: “Such an incident has not happened in the past 30 years of my teaching career.”
The parents, who assembled on the school premises as their children wrote the examination, blamed poor maintenance for the accident.
“Lack of maintenance inside the school compound endangered the life of an examinee,” said one of them.
“What has happened is not acceptable. How could the fan come off the ceiling? It’s a clear dereliction of duty on the part of the school authorities. What if the fan had landed on her head? She could have died. Who would have taken the responsibility then?” said Sheikh Abdullah Mamud, another parent.
Chandan Maity, the state general secretary of the Advanced Society for Headmasters and Headmistresses, said: “The incident proves that the schools are struggling to maintain their infrastructure following the absence of support from the state government. The government must provide adequate financial assistance to the schools. Otherwise, such unfortunate incidents will continue to happen.”
Education minister Bratya Basu told Metro in a text message: “The president of the state secondary education board has informed that the injuries sustained by the student are not serious and she has appeared for the examination in normal circumstances. But the venue in charge and the concerned coordinator have been showcased by the board following the incident.”
In 2013, a ceiling fan’s blade came crashing down on a student writing his board exam in a north Calcutta school on Chitpore Road.
This year’s Madhyamik began on February 10 and will continue until February 22.
The examination is being conducted at 2,683 centres across the state with nearly 10 lakh students appearing in the examination.