SCERT files complaint against 20 online channels after PAT paper leak

Pune: Maharashtra State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) on Tuesday filed a complaint against 20 online channels and unknown individuals after question papers of the Performance Assessment Test (PAT) for standard IX which started on Tuesday in state govt schools were found on their channels two days prior to the exam.
The complaint filed with Vishrambaug police by assistant director of SCERT Sangita Shinde stated that on April 7, officials discovered question papers for three subjects on online channels even before the exam was conducted.
Shinde, in her complaint, stated: "On April 7, 2025, around noon, it came to our attention that some online channels had leaked the exam papers scheduled for April 8, 2025. Further investigation revealed that papers for all three subjects were released before the exams. These channels published the question papers and answers without permission, violating govt orders. Consequently, a legal complaint has been filed against these channels and the unknown individuals responsible for providing the papers."
Director of SCERT Rahul Rekhawar said that it was impossible to replace the question papers. "We distribute 3.94 crore question papers for 1.21 crore students across the state. So, a board exam-like arrangement is not possible as this exam is conducted three times in the state for standards III to IX in govt and aided schools. Tuesday's exam continued with the same question paper, and the council is taking measures to prevent such a situation in the future."
The paper on the internet contains a walk-through of solutions and guides on what to write and where. One of these videos has already drawn over two lakh views. After SCERT filed the complaint with the police, some channels were deleted from the internet, teachers and educators reported.
The second assessment was scheduled from April 8 to 25, 2025. "On March 5, 2025, we communicated with all district education officers and administrative officers to distribute the exam papers to all schools via a private cargo company. Two days later, the question papers were found on social media," Rekhawar said.
Joint secretary of Yuva Sena (UBT) Kalpesh Yadav said, "Earlier, bundles of PAT exam question papers were found on the road. SCERT had recently issued a circular and issued orders regarding the date on which teachers should take the exam and how to declare the results. However, the education department could not maintain the confidentiality of the exam. Therefore, something like 'tell others about theology, but you are a dry stone' is seen in the case of SCERT."
Vijaymala Pawar, senior inspector of Vishrambaug police station, said that the police will take the help of the cyber police to locate the source and owners of the channel.
She said, "There are over 20 channels named by the complainant, and we will go to the source of each and every channel and find out from where the question papers were sourced, from whom they were sourced, and how they ended up with the channel owners."
Examination in six states
Since 2021, Maharashtra has initiated periodic assessments for students from standard III to IX in Marathi, mathematics and English
From 2023, SCERT has been organising these assessments for all govt and semi-govt aided schools
The distribution of question papers is completed at the taluka level a week before the exam
Further distribution to the schools is under the supervision of education officers and principals of the District Institute of Education and Training
This is the sixth PAT examination in the last two years
Other five states seem to conduct it only for a small sample of students
Only Maharashtra conducts it on such a scale
On assessments of answer sheets following this paper leak, it was decided to keep it the same after thorough deliberations, considering the intentions behind the test, the reach of channels, and administrative issues
Rahul Rekhawar I SCERT Director