CBSE exam: Dates for retest may be announced today

NEW DELHI: HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said on Thursday that he had not slept the night after the leak of Class X Maths and XII Economics question papers came to light and retests ordered as he was a parent too. The culprits behind the crime would be brought to book swiftly, he said.
Addressing a press conference here, the minister said he understood the anguish and frustration caused by the question paper leaks. “The cancellation of the exam which was taken by 16 lakh students is a very unfortunate incident and I can feel the pain of students and parents,” he said.


The minister’s statement came in the backdrop of efforts by the government to ensure that dates for the retests are announced soon so that the students do not have to put up with further uncertainty.

It is understood that the fresh dates may be announced on Friday.

The effort to advance the announcement was made because it was felt that waiting till next Monday or Tuesday, as was initially being considered, would prolong the agony of lakhs of students.

Javadekar also said the paper leaks have dented the image of the board and the ministry is in talks with foreign counterparts to find an “even better” system.

Dent in CBSE’s image: Javadekar

What can we do so that this thing does not get repeated we are discussing and deliberating. To end the crime in the education system is a great challenge for us. We will punish the culprits and bring in necessary reforms within the system,” Javadekar said.

“This leak is a dent in CBSE’s image and so we will go into the depth of it. CBSE has earned a good reputation of conducting fair examinations. This has been breached by the culprits. The crime branch of Delhi Police has formed teams and we are also doing an internal inquiry. Police is doing their job and we are sure the culprits will be nabbed like the way SSC (paper leak) culprits have been,” he said.

On questions about students and parents alleging that other papers had also been leaked, he said there was no proof to this effect. Meanwhile students from different schools in the national capital gathered and protested against the re-examination. They wanted CBSE to take back the decision.

To this, Javadekar told the students, “Innocent people have to bear the misdeeds of others, this is the truth. But we are doing everything to make sure the same thing does not happen again.”