OTET 2019 exams cancelled following question paper leak, probe ordered

BHUBANESWAR: The Board of Secondary Education on Wednesday cancelled the Odisha Teachers' Eligibility Test (OTET) following allegations of question paper leak on social media. Apart from ordering an internal enquiry into the matter the board also urged the Crime Branch to conduct a probe.

The cancellation of the exam spread large-scale resentment among the candidates, who staged protest at several places demanding action against those responsible for this. As many as 1.12 lakh candidates applied to sit in the examination being held at 250 centres across Odisha.

School and mass education minister Badri Narayan Patra asked candidates not to get disappointed. "The matter will be probed and action will be taken after departmental inquiry. Students should not get disappointed at all."

The examination was scheduled to be held in two sittings on Wednesday. The question papers started making rounds on social media about a couple of hours before the examinations started.

"This is very unfortunate. After getting the information of question paper leak we verified and found the papers available on social media are same to that of the original question papers. So we decided to cancel the examination for today and the dates of re-examination will be intimated to the candidates soon," said president of the board, Jahan Ara Begum.

She said, "We followed the same guidelines for this exam that we usually follow for all examinations. The question papers must have leaked at the centre level because we despatched them in sealed covers and it is the responsibility of the centre superintendent to keep them safe in strong rooms. The question paper packets would be opened half an hour before the examination in front of observers, invigilators and two candidates. So it has been done in a planned manner and after probe we can only tell the source of leak and how it went viral."

Following the cancellation candidates expressed their anguish and staged protest at several places. "How can the board play with careers of thousands of students. We had worked really hard for the exam, what was our fault. Whoever leaked the papers harmed us more than helping," said Swgatika Pati, a candidate at Capital High School here.

Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged demonstration in front of the resident of the school and mass education minister Badri Narayan Patra and demanded his resignation.

Opposition parties also criticised the government for the question paper leak. Criticising the chief minister Naveen Patnaik over the lapses, union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, "With such incidents happening, people will lose trust on the system and there are no words to condemn state government's carelessness towards future generations."

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik tweeted "Be it the ASO exam debacle or this OTET question paper leak the BJD's message to our youth is very clear: we will not allow level playing field for the aspirants and help the select few to advance our sinister motive. BJD cannot provide job opportunities to our youth and makes things difficult for them in whatever little option they have."