MANY coaching centres in the capital have continued their activities ignoring a government order to keep them closed from March 29 till the end of the Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations, to prevent question paper leaks during the Tests. The HSC examinations will start from today. The government order is itself ambiguous as it did not clarify the nature of coaching centres. There are different categories of coaching centres, including professional development, admission test preparation, language and skill learning centres. Though the pattern of examinations, low moral strength of teachers, the dishonest staff of the printing presses, and others are responsible for question leakages, the government has done little to directly intervene.
Earlier, the government had also decided to keep all coaching centres closed during the previous Secondary School Certificate exams. The written part of this year’s SSC exams witnessed the largest ever spate of question leaks in the country’s history of public exams. Almost all question papers were leaked well ahead of exams. Coaching centres have mushroomed across the country and they have taken the advantage of the government’s relaxed mood in checking their rapid growth.
Educationists think that coaching centres have no contribution in improving the quality of education rather they are often involved in the leaking of public exam question papers. Anti-Corruption Commission in December last had sent a set of recommendations to the Education Ministry asking it to close down the coaching centres as they were one of the potential sources of question leakage in public exams. But the biggest actors behind the immoral activities are the syndicates and vested interest groups. Whether the government admits it or not, the education sector has many such groups.
We must acknowledge that the impacts of question paper leaks are profound and multidimensional. It exposes a dark side of our society where morality and ethics are ignored. It also shows that we are allowing some unscrupulous people to inhibit our children’s ability to think independently and creatively. By closing the academic coaching centres, the government may create a potential pressure on question paper leakage. But the syndicates that operate through social media network sites and digital platforms can’t be ousted so easily.
