A FEW days back – prior to holding of the SSC exam – the Education Ministry circulated an order that all coaching centres in the country must be closed down until the SSC exams come to an end. The government has also changed job locations of atleast 25 teachers of five government schools in the capital as punishment for not following its order regarding closure of the country’s ubiquitous coaching centres.
However, even though the Ministry has taken action to stop leak of question papers of the ongoing SSC exams rumours regarding the question paper leak has once again been reported in the media. Before criticizing the government step, it might reasonably be pointed out that question paper leaks occur when someone among those who are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of the papers breaches his or her trust. At four different levels this dishonesty can occur: firstly by the people who Finalise the question papers themselves; secondly by the people at the printing level; thirdly by those who are involved in distributing and reaching question papers to the exam centres; and finally by teachers who keep the question papers with them until they are served to students on the exam day.
The questions, however, get leaked right from the exam hall also. Though we are dead against running of coaching centres and are repeatedly calling for effective study in classrooms, we must say that people running the coaching centres are not anyhow practically connected to the disclosure of papers. Nevertheless, if someone of a coaching centre is involved in connection with any of the four stages from preparing the questions to the point of distribution of papers among the students, only then s/he can be linked to a leaking event.
There is another reality that coaching centres compete with each other for keeping or increasing their reputation, and it is assumed that in an effort to do so they seek questions beforehand and prepare their students before the exam accordingly. Apart from being only an assumption, any guardian or student for that matter may want to know what the questions are, if s/he does not believe in the fair competition of an exam.
So we believe the step to stop the coaching centres during the exam for deterring leak should not be the main preventive technique – provided if this year’s papers were actually leaked at any of the four stages. Therefore, the loopholes must be plugged in the correct places. If question papers are not leaked this year, which we believe it hadn’t, it will also be not fair for stopping the coaching centres. Finally, the government must acknowledge the technical aspects of the four stages of question leak and prepare a strategy accordingly.
We urge the Education Ministry to find out the root cause of question paper leakage.
However, even though the Ministry has taken action to stop leak of question papers of the ongoing SSC exams rumours regarding the question paper leak has once again been reported in the media. Before criticizing the government step, it might reasonably be pointed out that question paper leaks occur when someone among those who are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of the papers breaches his or her trust. At four different levels this dishonesty can occur: firstly by the people who Finalise the question papers themselves; secondly by the people at the printing level; thirdly by those who are involved in distributing and reaching question papers to the exam centres; and finally by teachers who keep the question papers with them until they are served to students on the exam day.
The questions, however, get leaked right from the exam hall also. Though we are dead against running of coaching centres and are repeatedly calling for effective study in classrooms, we must say that people running the coaching centres are not anyhow practically connected to the disclosure of papers. Nevertheless, if someone of a coaching centre is involved in connection with any of the four stages from preparing the questions to the point of distribution of papers among the students, only then s/he can be linked to a leaking event.
There is another reality that coaching centres compete with each other for keeping or increasing their reputation, and it is assumed that in an effort to do so they seek questions beforehand and prepare their students before the exam accordingly. Apart from being only an assumption, any guardian or student for that matter may want to know what the questions are, if s/he does not believe in the fair competition of an exam.
So we believe the step to stop the coaching centres during the exam for deterring leak should not be the main preventive technique – provided if this year’s papers were actually leaked at any of the four stages. Therefore, the loopholes must be plugged in the correct places. If question papers are not leaked this year, which we believe it hadn’t, it will also be not fair for stopping the coaching centres. Finally, the government must acknowledge the technical aspects of the four stages of question leak and prepare a strategy accordingly.
We urge the Education Ministry to find out the root cause of question paper leakage.
