HYDERABAD: A series of paper leaks, or call them malpractice, by none other than invigilators at the SSC examination centres are being reported on a daily basis. Ever since the SSC examinations commenced, there have been five cases where the examination papers were leaked through WhatsApp and 18 malpractice cases reported and all this despite the tall claims of the state education department to conduct cheating-free SSC examination this year.
The SSC examinations commenced on March 15 and will end on March 31.
In all the five cases of question paper leaks, the teachers or the invigilators were involved and departmental action was initiated against them. However, there are no steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the coming days, an official said.
“An invigilator can also be barred from taking his mobile phone inside the examination centre as more such cases are taking place,’’ an official said.
The Education department, however, has refuted claims of paper leakage. Speaking to Express, B Sudhakar, Controller of Examination, called these incidents as “sporadic incidents of attempted leaks.”
“There have been malpractices but so far we have been able to effectively plug all attempts to leak question papers. Any official, caught indulging in malpractice, regardless of their position is being booked under criminal sections of the Telangana State Prohibition of Examination Act 25/1997,” he said. This year, 5,38,867 students are taking the SSC examination in 2,542 centres.
The department is taking the services of 27,000 teachers. In eight days of examination, 16 teachers have been suspended. Of these, 12 are invigilators, and two each chief superintendent and department officer.
Private school teachers allege that paper leaks and mass copying are way common than what is projected through the official numbers. They claim that private school managements collude with government teachers to leak paper. These are then handed over to private teachers who write all the answers which are passed on to the students.
“All this is done to show 100 per cent results so that next year the schools can attract more admissions. Private school teachers are just pawns in this,” said Sheik Shabbir Ali of Telanagana Private Teachers Forum. He suggested that if the menace has to be curbed then action should be taken against the teachers who take bribes and private school managements that give them.
Meanwhile, government teachers too claim that they are under immense pressure from the government and their respective district collectors to secure 100 per cent results. Chava Ravi, general secretary, Telangana United Teachers’ Federation (TUTF) said most teachers work hard throughout the year, take extra classes but in the end, some succumb to the pressure and resort to malpractices. “To prevent such incidents, more police should be stationed at all centres,” he said.
DEO demands departmental action against MEO for Mathematics question paper leak
Jagtial: A day after SSC Mathematics Paper-2 leak issue came to light, the District Educational Officer S Venkateshwarlu wrote to the Regional Joint Director (RJD), Warangal asking him to take departmental action against MEO K Venkateshwar Rao. DEO also issued termination orders to Government Model School cluster resource person Chandhra Mohan. In connection to this, the police registered cases against 10 teachers, including Mandal Educational Officer and Konapur headmaster