Addressing the media, HRD Minister, Prakash Javadekar said a new system would be put in place from Monday to ensure no leaks take place and the government would ensure that there is no injustice.
New date for class 12 economics re-exam has been announced by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) today, according to which the paper will now be conducted on April 25. As far as class 10 mathematics re-exam is concerned, Secretary Education, Anil Swarup said as leak was restricted only to Delhi and Haryana, if conducted, it will only be held in these two states in July. A decision regarding the same will be taken in next 15 days. He added that there had been no paper leak outside of India and hence no re-examination will be held at exam centres abroad.
The board merely said this was being done to “uphold the sanctity of the board examination and in the interest of fairness to students”, and “taking cognizance of certain happenings in the conduct of examinations”.
Students demotivated
Students were in a grip of panic gripped following claims on social media that the economics paper was leaked, even as CBSE denied there was any slip up. Reports of the question paper being leaked circulated through social media and WhatsApp several hours before the paper commenced. Class 12 economics paper was held on Monday while the Maths paper was conducted on Wednesday. However, the CBSE has been denying the reports. It was only on Wednesday that the Board decided to re-conduct the exams.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Biswajit Saha, Additional Director (Vocational Training), CBSE, said: “From yesterday night, there were pictures of Mathematics questions, which were received on the CBSE chairperson’s email ID. When we checked, we found that those questions were matching with the paper and seemed to be correct. That is why the board decided to hold a re-examination.”
Students took to Twitter and other social media websites to show their anger against CBSE and the Centre. Many students protested near Jantar Mantar over the alleged paper leak.
Police investigation
An FIR was lodged by the board and the Delhi Police is probing the case. There are two cases – in the first case, the Board received a complaint through fax on March 23, alleging that a tutor at Rajinder Nagar was involved in the paper leak. It also named two schools in Rajinder Nagar. Later, the CBSE approached the Crime Branch with another complaint on March 26 evening.
Several teams of the crime branch are looking for a west Delhi-based businessman, who has emerged as a suspect in the class 10 mathematics paper leak.
Special Commissioner of Police RP Upadhyay also told reporters, “Children of various Delhi schools shared question papers on Whatsapp before exams. 11 school children, seven college, five tutors and two private persons have been questioned till now”.
Delhi Police’s crime branch is questioning admins and members of these WhatsApp groups. On Wednesday, the branch had set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged leak of the CBSE examination papers.
A number of people, including students, have been detained in Jharkhand’s Chatra Sadar police station area for cheating and on suspicion of being part of the leak of question papers. An FIR was filed in this regard by the principal of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, alleging that cheating was being resorted to by students with the help of some unidentified persons.
HRD Minister shows concern
Addressing the media, he said a new system would be put in place from Monday to ensure no leaks take place and the government would ensure that there is no injustice, Javadekar said. He said he was “saddened” by reports that the papers had leaked and asserted that he was confident that the police would investigate and nab the culprits.
Addressing students at an event marked to launch the finale of the Smart India Hackathon 2018 (Software Edition), he said, “I am facing one problem in the country. It is a problem of paper leak. So, how to solve it, is also a challenge. And I am throwing this challenge to students. Some people can also work after Hackathon and give us suggestions”.
After the CBSE’s announcement of re-examination, the Congress had sought Javadekar’s resignation and a probe by a high court judge.
Addressing the media, he said a new system would be put in place from Monday to ensure no leaks take place and the government would ensure that there is no injustice, Javadekar said.