New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education’s Controller of Examination had warned the board that attempts were being made to access the question papers through frivolous messages and emails to examination centres.
In a letter written on March 4, KK Choudhury had said that “some elements were writing to examination centres and asking for copies of the question paper for verification”. He said that the “elements” were sending messages and emails in his name.
The letter also stated that the board does not ask for copies for examination and all exam centres should be intimated that such mails and messages should not be attended to in order to maintain the “sanctity of the examination”.
The surfacing of the letter has put question marks on the steps CBSE had taken to check the leaks of question papers. On Wednesday, the board had to announce that it would conduct retests for Class X Maths exam and Class XII Economics exam after the papers were leaked on WhatsApp.
Apart from the above two papers, social media was also abuzz on March 15 with reports that the class XII accountancy paper had been leaked.
The letter written by KK Choudhury on March 4. (Photo: News18)
Several people have vented their anger at the CBSE for the retest. Pranav Viju, a Class 10 student, said he was "surprised" to read reports about the leak. "Today, I came home happily on finishing CBSE class 10 math paper only to find that the paper was leaked and we have to rewrite our exams again. I don't understand what the officials are doing,” he said.
There were thousands more reactions like the one above on social media websites. Around 28 lakh students have been affected by the move.
Delhi Police has formed a special investigation team and registered two separate FIRs. The SIT will be headed by joint commissioner of crime, Alok Kumar and will have two DCP rank officers, four ACP rank officers and five inspectors.
Sources have told CNN-News18 that prima facie, it looks like the paper was leaked by someone in the CBSE. “It is unlikely that it was leaked by some school. Possibly, a CBSE insider who got sufficient time before dispatch has done this,” an officer said.
He said that all possible leak points- office of Controller of Exam, dispatch centre, logistics and printing - will be probed.
The police has detained eight people for the leaks and had questioned 15 people. They said that the fact that the leaked paper was handwritten is a major clue. “The handwriting on the leaked paper will be matched with all the concerned,” the officer added.
The central government is also keeping tabs on the probe and is also conducting a separate internal inquiry. HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said at a press conference that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed unhappiness over the leak and that strict measures will be introduced that no leaks take place from Monday.
“The government will, with the help of technology, put in place a system which is so foolproof that there is no leak. We have also decided to tighten security for the time when papers are being distributed in the examination centres,” he said.
(With input from Nitisha Kashyap)
Comments
0 comment