The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) is contemplating introducing security measures that will help track the source of question paper leaks. The move comes in the wake of the alleged Book Keeping and Accountancy paper leak that occurred on Friday during the ongoing HSC board exams. This is the second instance of the question paper of the said subject being leaked. The board has also said that a re-exam of the paper could be decided upon only after the cyber cell completes its investigation and ascertains whether the paper was actually leaked.
Speaking about the alleged paper leak, Dattatray Jagtap, chairman, Mumbai division of the MSBSHSE, said that the board had handed over all the information they had received with regards to paper leak to the cyber cell.
“It is difficult to confirm whether there could be a re-exam. The cyber cell will be investigating all aspects of the paper leak and also tracing the source of the paper leak. Only after they ascertain what time the paper was leaked will it be possible to take a decision,” said Mr Jagtap.
On Friday, the board received information from an exam centre in Mira Road at 10.58 am of a student being apprehended with a copy of the question paper on his mobile phone. The paper had been received by the student over WhatsApp.
The divisional board office at Vashi immediately lodged a complaint with the Belapur cyber cell. As the question paper was sent via WhatsApp and went viral, the cyber cell will find it difficult to trace the source, thus the investigations could get delayed.
Meanwhile, Mr Jagtap added that the board would discuss introducing security measures in the question paper during its meeting after the exams. “Adding a serial number on the question paper would be a good way to detect from which centre the paper was leaked. I will be suggesting this in the meeting of the board after the exam,” said Mr Jagtap.
Coaching classes caused paper leak Former MSBSHSE chairman J.M. Abhyankar has said that coaching classes could have a hand in the paper leak.
“Teachers from unaided junior colleges tend to take up part time jobs in coaching classes. Due to the high level of competition among the institutes, teachers tend to give students mock tests in which they can accurately predict the content of the question paper upto 95 per cent. It is very much possible that these teachers, who also double up as paper setters, could have leaked the questions to the students. Though there are laws against teachers taking up private teaching along with their college jobs, in the absence of a proper system to implement the laws, teachers manage to get away with it.”
