Re-exam in favour of students: CBSE chief breaks silence on paper leak

New Delhi: Under attack over the board paper leaks, CBSE Chairperson Anita Karwal on Thursday said that the decision to hold re-examination of two subjects was taken in “favour of the students” and the new dates for the exams would be announced soon.

The remarks came a day after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), in a circular, said that students would have to take re-test for Class 10 Mathematics and Class 12 Economics subjects.

Read: Paper leak: CBSE re-exam for Class 10 Maths, Class 12 Economics; PM upset

“We have taken the decision in favour of the students and in utmost fairness. Very soon we will announce the dates (for re-test). Any further decision would also be taken in the favour of the students,” she told reporters in New Delhi.

“Students don't have to worry about anything. We are with them,” she added.

The Congress has demanded the sacking of Karwal and Human Resource Minister Prakash Javadekar for the alleged lapse. The opposition party has also pressed for a fair and impartial investigation into this paper leak issue by a high court judge.

The Congress had also questioned about why the post of CBSE chairman has been left vacant for two years.

Also read: Students in Delhi protest demanding CBSE to hold re-exam for all papers

Talking to the media, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday assured that the culprits responsible for the leak will be caught. “I also could not sleep, I am also a parent,” he said.

Javadekar on Wednesday said "2-3 papers had been leaked on WhatsApp 30 minutes before the exams".

Javadekar had termed the CBSE examination paper leak issue “unfortunate” and said culprits would not go scot-free.

Also read: New foolproof system from Monday to check CBSE paper leak: Javadekar

The Delhi unit of All India Democratic Students' Organisation also demanded a high-level probe into the CBSE question paper leak case, and said it showed the board's "utter negligence" in conducting examinations fairly.

Meanwhile, a special investigation team of Delhi Police has been formed to look into the matter.

In the course of investigations, Delhi Police have interrogated 25 people, mostly students who had access to the handwritten question papers.

Also read: CBSE paper leak probe: Delhi Police quizzes 25 people including students

The CBSE conveyed to the Delhi Police on Thursday, that it has received a complaint by an unknown source on March 23 claiming that the perpetrator runs a coaching institute, and also named two schools from the same vicinity as complicit in the leakage.

The police have said that they have recovered snapshots of the handwritten question papers, which were being circulated on WhatsApp, from the man. They are also trying to trace the source of the WhatsApp messages, but are facing problems because of the end-to-end encryption.

Also read: CBSE received handwritten notes containing answers of Economics paper

The leaked economics paper was being circulated on social media, including WhatsApp, several hours before the test was about to commence on Monday.

On March 15, the Delhi government said it received complaints from the CBSE about the Class 12 Accountancy paper being leaked.