Governor seeks reports from two Kerala varsities over exam goof-ups

At University of Kerala, answer key was distributed instead of the question paper during the BSc Electronics supplementary exam in February this year. At University of Kannur, three exams scheduled last week had to be cancelled after the question papers were found to be a repeat of previous year’s. Also, another exam on Monday (April 25) had to be postponed for the same reason.

Raj Bhavan officials said the Governor has sought a report from the V-Cs of the two universities on the goof-ups. “Action will be taken on the basis of the reports. This is a routine intervention of the Raj Bhavan in the university matters,” an official said.

Referring to the slips at the University of Kannur, Khan had told the media in Delhi on Sunday: “This is a clear sign of incompetence. Somebody should take the responsibility. The higher education sector in Kerala is in doldrums, even though the school education is the best in the country. Someone should take moral responsibility for the mistakes.”

Last week, the University of Kannur conducted two exams of psychology (graduate programme) and the question papers turned out to be a repeat of the previous year. Adding to the embarrassment, the same mistake resurfaced in Botany exam on Saturday. Subsequently, the university also postponed the April 25 degree exam of philosophy.

Kannur university V-C Prof Gopinath Ravindran said a sub-committee has been tasked to probe the matter. “They will give the report on Tuesday. The report will be discussed by the Syndicate, which will take action against those responsible for the goof-ups.

Earlier, University Controller of Exams Dr P J Vincent had taken moral responsibility for the bungling, saying “the teachers involved in the process will be blacklisted”.

Kerala University Controller of Exams Dr N Gopakumar said a probe has been ordered.