Recent CBSE Fiasco and the Role of the Present Administration

  01-Jun-2018 13:19:15

CBSE secondary education




The CBSE is one of India’s most respected national board of secondary education. Along with ICSE and ISC, the CBSE accommodates over twenty lakhs students appearing for the 10th and 12th standard examinations. Founded in 1962, CBSE is the official board of all Kendriya Vidyalayas , all Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, most of the schools approved by Central Government of India and thousands of the finest private schools all over India and in many foreign countries where NRIs reside in substantial numbers. Evidently, a case involving the leaking of question papers would be an enormous embarrassment.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened to CBSE on March 2018 in India, when there were reports that CBSE Class 10 Mathematics and Class 12 Economics papers were leaked. As a result, CBSE was forced to declare these exams null. Furthermore, it greatly damaged the integrity of the CBSE Board. Such leaks tarnish the image of not just the secondary school exams, but other exams, such as the National Eligibility Test (NET), which is also supervised by the CBSE, as well. Doubts are shed on the confidentiality and capability of the entire Board.

The Central Board of Secondary Education, on 28th March, stated that it will hold the Class 12th Economics board exam and the Class 10th Mathematics board exam once again after reports that the question papers for the two subjects had been leaked. The news came hours after Class 10 students sat for their math exam on the 28th. A handwritten copy of the question paper had been circulated on WhatsApp on 27th March, and most of the questions in the copy had appeared in the exam on 28th March. The Class 12th Economics exam was held on 26th. The board had repudiated any such claims about question paper leaks on social media and WhatsApp the same day.

Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, said that the HRD ministry had commenced an internal probe into the issue. The Delhi Police's Crime Branch has also started investigating the alleged leak of the CBSE's Class 12 Economics paper and lodged a separate case in relation with the alleged leak of the Class 10 Mathematics paper. The re-test of CBSE’s Class 12 Economics exam will be held on April 25, while the re-test for Class 10 math exam is probably going to be conducted in July, Education Secretary Anil Swarup said on 30th March.

On 2nd April, Delhi Police's special investigation team arrested two teachers of a private school in Mungeshpur, Delhi and a teacher at a coaching centre in the same area on April 1st. The accused had allegedly leaked the Class 12th Economics paper. The two schoolteachers, Rohit and Rishabh, respectively taught Math and Physics, at Mother Khajani School in Mungeshpur and were apparently on exam duty, police said. The two reportedly opened the envelope containing the question papers half an hour earlier than the scheduled time, clicked pictures and handed it to Tauqeer, who runs a coaching centre in Bawana, who circulated it between his students. The threesome charged Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 2,500 from each student for the papers.

On 1st April, the Central Board of Secondary Education had suspended one of their officials for negligence in supervision at the exam centre, the HRD ministry's school education secretary declared on Twitter. Importantly, the police also said that the CBSE has stated in its complaint that they had received an e-mail a day before the Class 10th Math exam stating that the paper had been leaked. Reports said that the CBSE chairwoman Anita Karwal had received an e-mail notifying the paper leak, but she didn't take any action. Reports said that CBSE found the e-mail to be unauthenticated and hence, did not react.

This is not the first time such concerns have emerged. Many times in the past, such as in 2006, the police discovered leaked CBSE question papers for Business Studies while it was searching for suspects connected to the Varanasi bomb blasts. In fact, as recently as 2016, there were reports of papers being leaked. The CBSE has generally boldly refused such claims. Due to lack of conclusive evidence, the Board asserted that their exams were most secure if not impregnable; they could act as if this was business as usual. Not this time, unfortunately, as the papers were circulated on WhatsApp right before the exam.

As this complex web of WhatsApp messages and e-mails is being investigated, students and parents have been organizing protests in Delhi. As expected, most of them are aggrieved; why should everyone be punished for the crimes of a few? On 31st, they protested outside the CBSE's Preet Vihar office, requesting that either Class 12th economics re-test be cancelled, or a re-test be conducted for all the subjects. Students numbering in thousands are exasperated to their wit's end at the likelihood of having to give their exams all over again. Moreover, the lack of trust that the whole paper leak issue has created, is introducing more doubts about whether CBSE can make sure that such incidents don't occur again.

Political parties, on the other hand, have rushed to politicize the issue. Congress President Rahul Gandhi criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the CBSE paper leak scandal, saying that the "chowkidar was weak". Gandhi took to Twitter and berated the BJP government on numerous leaks, from the Aadhaar data leak to the CBSE Paper leak.

Returning to education, Javadekar has also stated that the Cabinet has given confirmation for the National Testing Agency to take effect from next year to ensure leak-proof examination. But it doesn't change the fact that the whole system is in urgent need of serious reforms, thoroughly. Starting from primary education, which is in a horrible shape, to higher education, which is in chaos, we need an extensive and powerful change.

Till date, when it comes to this section of our society, not much has been done. The budgetary expenditure on education needs to be increased twofold from present levels of 3.5 percent of GDP so that both brick and mortar institutions, as well as digital institutions, are benefited. We need better teachers to manage today’s knowledge and didactic realities. The job for policy-makers goes past stopping exam leaks, to repairing a ludicrously broken system and we need to stop letting them get away by making excuses.

By Ankita Neogi