Exam papers leak

The fact that students are given a three-hour examination to test everything they have learnt over a year and that those scores are used to determine their admission into colleges is itself unfair. It is even more bizarre that thousands have to rewrite a paper for no fault of theirs (“After leaks, CBSE to hold fresh exams for two papers”, March 29). Is there any guarantee that the students will not face similar problems in the re-exam?

Victor Frank A.,

Chennai

As a former principal of a CBSE school, it pains me to think of the students who have to go through this. The procedure laid down for the conduct of CBSE examinations has failed. The question papers are delivered by the CBSE to a bank that is close to the exam centre. The bundles are taken out off the bank lockers on the date of the exam by the school principal and the bank’s representative. The bundles are opened at the exam centre in the presence of the main examiner. The leak may have happened either at the time of drafting the question paper or at one of these stages. The HRD Minister should not rest till the whole issue is investigated.

Ramalakshmi Arunachalam,

Chennai