Securing duplicate school marksheets a herculean task
TNN | Feb 11, 2020, 04.13 AM IST
Madurai: Obtaining one’s lost school education certificates, especially the SSLC and higher secondary mark sheets, have become a herculean task in the state. Neither the local education department officials nor the online website is apparently of much help.
Recently, Karthik (name changed), who had completed his higher secondary examination nearly a decade ago, found that he had lost his file and bag containing all the originals of his school education certificates. Panicking, he rushed to the chief education officer’s office in Madurai. “From what I know, you have to pay a challan for a specified amount at the treasury, attach a missing certificate and send it to the department, but you may get a better idea from the people selling forms for certificates outside the district collectorate,” said one of the staff there.
Those selling forms for certificates outside the district collectorate are not recognised persons. Kavitha (name changed), who was also trying to get a duplicate SSLC mark sheet, said that a man outside the collectorate offered to give her a printed application form and also helped in filling it for Rs 200. “However, he said he would only help fill the form and did not give me much information about the whole process so it is difficult to know who to go to,” she said.
After finding the information he got from the CEO’s office confusing, Karthik rushed to another officer of higher ranking. “Oh everything is online and you will not have to do anything manually, so just go on the school education site,” he said. The desperate candidate found that only the application form for a duplicate certificate was available online, and it had to be downloaded and filled up to start the process.
The application form says, you should pay Rs 505, at the treasury, get a missing certificate duly signed by a gazetted officer, an affidavit signed by a notary public and a missing notice published in a newspaper to be duly submitted with the application. But all this have to be submitted only after getting a copy of the FIR from the police, in the limits of which the documents were lost. “This is the easiest part of the entire process, thanks to the e-seva website of the Tamil Nadu police, where you can get a lost document report by logging into the site and a payment of Rs 50 for each document lost,” he said.
Next is to get the affidavit signed by the notary. The affidavit needs to be printed on a Rs 20-stamp paper, and the numerous shops near the collectorate type the affidavit and get it signed from a notary public for a payment of Rs 500, if you go in person and have authentication to prove your claim. A Notary public will sign the certificate only if the Lost Document Report from the police is furnished.
Armed with these two certificates, you have to go to a local newspaper for publishing the notice for a payment that may range between Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500. When it appears in the newspaper, you have to approach the government treasury.
The person at the treasury would not be very helpful if you do not produce the last part of the application form downloaded from the website, which has details of the challan and fees to be paid. He will only put his seal and signature on the challan, but the money has to be deposited in the specified branch of the State Bank of India. Here the bank officer will give you the receipt and challan number, which have to be kept carefully to file with the application.
Further, you need the signature of a gazetted officer or Tahsildar vouching for the missing mark sheets on a certificate that you can obtain from agents outside the collectorate premises. “Going to the Tahsildar’s office to get the signature was difficult and time consuming. Already we had to keep running from one office to the other during the process,” said Rajesh (name changed), who recently applied for a duplicate higher secondary mark sheet. Finally, the application form downloaded from the directorate of government examinations has to be filled up carefully and taken to the school where the candidate studied, where the principal or headmaster would authorise it at their convenience.
Though the application form says the school would forward the application to the department of examinations, it is often the candidate who is forced to do it, said the applicants. Then, he/she has to keep their fingers crossed and wait for the certificate for a period of at least two months. Both schools and education department officials said that they get only few applications every year. “We hardly get even 10 applications in a year sometimes. So, that is also again a reason why many are not aware of the processes, which keep changing as well. Many don’t even bother applying unless they desperately need it for a job or such,” said the principal of a private school.
TNN | Feb 11, 2020, 04.13 AM IST
Madurai: Obtaining one’s lost school education certificates, especially the SSLC and higher secondary mark sheets, have become a herculean task in the state. Neither the local education department officials nor the online website is apparently of much help.
Recently, Karthik (name changed), who had completed his higher secondary examination nearly a decade ago, found that he had lost his file and bag containing all the originals of his school education certificates. Panicking, he rushed to the chief education officer’s office in Madurai. “From what I know, you have to pay a challan for a specified amount at the treasury, attach a missing certificate and send it to the department, but you may get a better idea from the people selling forms for certificates outside the district collectorate,” said one of the staff there.
Those selling forms for certificates outside the district collectorate are not recognised persons. Kavitha (name changed), who was also trying to get a duplicate SSLC mark sheet, said that a man outside the collectorate offered to give her a printed application form and also helped in filling it for Rs 200. “However, he said he would only help fill the form and did not give me much information about the whole process so it is difficult to know who to go to,” she said.
After finding the information he got from the CEO’s office confusing, Karthik rushed to another officer of higher ranking. “Oh everything is online and you will not have to do anything manually, so just go on the school education site,” he said. The desperate candidate found that only the application form for a duplicate certificate was available online, and it had to be downloaded and filled up to start the process.
The application form says, you should pay Rs 505, at the treasury, get a missing certificate duly signed by a gazetted officer, an affidavit signed by a notary public and a missing notice published in a newspaper to be duly submitted with the application. But all this have to be submitted only after getting a copy of the FIR from the police, in the limits of which the documents were lost. “This is the easiest part of the entire process, thanks to the e-seva website of the Tamil Nadu police, where you can get a lost document report by logging into the site and a payment of Rs 50 for each document lost,” he said.
Next is to get the affidavit signed by the notary. The affidavit needs to be printed on a Rs 20-stamp paper, and the numerous shops near the collectorate type the affidavit and get it signed from a notary public for a payment of Rs 500, if you go in person and have authentication to prove your claim. A Notary public will sign the certificate only if the Lost Document Report from the police is furnished.
Armed with these two certificates, you have to go to a local newspaper for publishing the notice for a payment that may range between Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500. When it appears in the newspaper, you have to approach the government treasury.
The person at the treasury would not be very helpful if you do not produce the last part of the application form downloaded from the website, which has details of the challan and fees to be paid. He will only put his seal and signature on the challan, but the money has to be deposited in the specified branch of the State Bank of India. Here the bank officer will give you the receipt and challan number, which have to be kept carefully to file with the application.
Further, you need the signature of a gazetted officer or Tahsildar vouching for the missing mark sheets on a certificate that you can obtain from agents outside the collectorate premises. “Going to the Tahsildar’s office to get the signature was difficult and time consuming. Already we had to keep running from one office to the other during the process,” said Rajesh (name changed), who recently applied for a duplicate higher secondary mark sheet. Finally, the application form downloaded from the directorate of government examinations has to be filled up carefully and taken to the school where the candidate studied, where the principal or headmaster would authorise it at their convenience.
Though the application form says the school would forward the application to the department of examinations, it is often the candidate who is forced to do it, said the applicants. Then, he/she has to keep their fingers crossed and wait for the certificate for a period of at least two months. Both schools and education department officials said that they get only few applications every year. “We hardly get even 10 applications in a year sometimes. So, that is also again a reason why many are not aware of the processes, which keep changing as well. Many don’t even bother applying unless they desperately need it for a job or such,” said the principal of a private school.
