Bhubaneswar, March 16 (IANS) Orissa class 10 student Ranjit Kumar Sethi was forced to appear thrice for his board exams before being told he had passed the first time around!

In the process, he lost two years of his academic life.

Sethi, a student of the Palai High School in Jajpur district, was convinced that he passed the exam in his first attempt in 2008 but the authorities ruled otherwise.

He appeared again in 2009 but failed due to lack of adequate preparation.

'I started preparing for the exam once again this year but I was told that I already passed the exam in 2008,' Sethi said.

Not surprisingly, his mother, Malati Sethi, is livid.

'My son lost two years due to the fault of officials. We insisted that he take the exam once again (this year). But we were shocked to learn that he passed the exam two years ago,' she said.

When this was brought to the notice of the school authorities they conceded the mistake but blamed it on the Orissa Board of Secondary Education.

'He had passed in 2008. But there was some tabulation error on the part of the Board,' said Kailash Chandra Swain, headmaster of the Palai High School.