The Mumbai Principals Association has demanded that to prevent paper leaks, Class X board exam question papers be distributed to students only after the time to enter the examination hall has passed.
A delegation of the association submitted their demands to the Secretary of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, C.Y. Chandekar, on Tuesday.
At present, students are allowed to enter the hall up to 30 minutes after the exam starts. “We distribute question papers ten minutes before the start time so students can read them. The papers are leaked at this juncture, and a student walking in late can know the questions before entering,” said Prashant Redij, general secretary of the association.
“But if we hand over the questions after the exam starts, then that could prevent paper leaks. We could extend the exam time by 10 minutes if needed,” Mr. Redij said.
Last year, Class XII question papers were found to have leaked on WhatsApp in the initial minutes of the exams.
The principals have also demanded that the 80:20 ratio of written and internal marks be continued in the next academic year, when a new syllabus is expected to be introduced. The board plans to allot all 100 marks for the written exams from next year, which teachers say would have a negative impact on the SSC board.
Meanwhile, Member of Legialative Council Kapil Patil has urged teachers to refuse administrative work “forced on them” by the government.
He said that other than census and election duty, teachers are not bound to do non-teaching work like updating electoral lists and photo ID verification. Mr. Patil took up the issue with the Chief Election Commissioner in Delhi.