Agartala, Sep 23 (IANS): Boats and indigenous ferries were pressed into service to distribute question papers in many schools in remote areas in Tripura.

The BJP-led government in an uniform system has introduced simultaneous exams for the first time in the northeastern state in 4,500 schools,

Earlier, until last academic session school-wise question papers were prepared in Tripura, but as the motorable roads in the state are in bad condition, so now boats and ferries are being used to distribute the question papers in these schools so that students can get papers on time during their examinations.

"Around 96 per cent of the 3,93,624 students appear in the ongoing half-yearly examinations which will be conducted for the first time by the education departments with the centralised uniform question papers," Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath told IANS on Monday.

"Around 3,75,845 of the total of 3,93,624 students of class three to nine appear in the examinations under a uniform system. If any student will fail in the exam, he or she has to face the re-test," said Nath, who also holds the legal portfolio.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said the BJP-led government has recently trained 41,000 school teachers to enable them to switch to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) curriculum from the current academic session April to March.