Entire exam system will be analysed, rectified: Assam minister after back-to-back paper leaks

Guwahati, Mar 17 (PTI): With two tests of the state board-conducted Class 10 exams cancelled within a week following leak of question papers, Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu on Friday asserted that the entire examination system will be analysed and rectified. Admitting that there are “lapses in the system”, he said the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) has to figure out where the problems are and take corrective measures. “We have to rectify it together,” Pegu told reporters here.

Days after the general science question paper leak of the Class 10 state board exam, the Assamese paper also got leaked, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said on Thursday evening. “All the Modern Indian Language (MIL) subject papers, including English, which were to be held tomorrow, have been cancelled as a precautionary step, as one of the accused revealed about leaking the Assamese question paper. The new dates will be announced by SEBA today,” Pegu said. In Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts, students study English (in lieu) instead of MIL Assamese.

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In addition to Assamese, the other MIL subjects are Bengali, Bodo, Hindi, Manipuri, Hmar, Nepali, Mizo, Khasi, Garo, Karbi and Urdu The general science question paper of the Class 10 matriculation exam was leaked on Sunday night, and the exam scheduled on Monday was cancelled thereafter. According to a SEBA notification, the examination for the subject will now be held on March 30. The CID is investigating the case and among those arrested are several students.

A school headteacher, who has also been apprehended, is suspected to be the mastermind. Meanwhile, reacting to the latest report of paper leak, opposition Congress said the episode has brought the entire matric examination process under the scanner. “Not only Assamese, every paper of HSLC exam seems to be under scanner. CM @himantabiswa, Education Minister @ranojpeguassam must be ashamed of themselves, take responsibility for this fiasco & resign. Horrific how @BJP4Assam Govt can play with the lives of lakhs of students,” the party said on Twitter. Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi also hit out at the government, claiming that such problems are bound to happen under a “bulldozer regime”. “Shameful that the State Government has been unable to conduct an exam. Education and other crucial aspects of development are bound to suffer under a bulldozer regime,” he tweeted. “Is it truly a conspiracy to destroy the Assamese vernacular medium?” said Independent legislator Akhil Gogoi. Protests were staged in front of the Luit Khabalu High School in Majuli, whose headteacher is suspected to be the mastermind in the case. Locals gathered near the school since morning and raised slogans.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on Thursday conceded in the assembly that the general science question paper leak was a "failure" of his government. "I am sad to inform that one school's centre in-charge and three other teachers are the main culprits. "The matric paper leak should not have happened. It shows our failure. I accept my failure," Sarma told the House.