RAIPUR: In an apparent example of administrative negligence, a Class 6 Hindi examination paper issued by the District Education Officer (DEO) in the Chhattisgarh capital has triggered widespread bewilderment and criticism over strange repetition and flawed question allocation.
Rather than a minor slip-up by an individual school, the error-ridden paper was evidently compiled by the DEO office and dispatched directly via PDF to all affiliated schools, institutionalising the goof-up across entire examination halls, a school teacher revealed on condition of anonymity.
The most striking blooper involves Indian hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand. While question papers are typically structured to test students' analytical depth across varying tiers, short, long, and essay answers, the examiner appeared fixated on a single query.
In the ‘Short Answer’ section, Question 9 asks: “What is the secret of Major Dhyan Chand’s success?” Turning to the ‘Long Answer’ section, Question 16 asks again verbatim: “What is the secret of Major Dhyan Chand’s success?” Not stopping there, the Very Long Answer section features virtually the exact same query as an option: “What was the secret of Major Dhyan Chand’s success?”
"It was a printing mistake in the Hindi examination paper while putting together questions in different sections", DEO Sateesh Nair told this newspaper.
It seems the unvetted PDF bypassed basic oversight, turning an official district-wide exam into a confusing puzzle for sixth graders.
The blunders went well beyond repetitive phrasing, extending into basic arithmetic that left students bewildered. In the short answer category, the header clearly specifies an evaluation marking of 3x 5 = 15 marks, explicitly implying five questions of three marks each. However, the section lists six full questions (Q8 to Q13), leaving students utterly confused about whether they were required to attempt five or six.
The confusion deepened in the long answer category. While the marking scheme proclaims 4 x 4 = 16 marks (demanding four questions worth four marks each), the paper only supplies three questions (Q14, Q15, and Q16). The missing fourth question leaves the total allocated marks mathematically unattainable as printed alongside.
The systemic nature of the incident raised questions regarding the quality control and review protocol within the education department. Because the question paper originated directly from the district headquarters, standard procedures require proper verification, cross-checking against the syllabus, and rigorous pre-dispatch proofreading.