Hyderabad: The leak of the CBSE exam papers shocked many students, especially when they realised that the question paper that was circulated on social media with the questions written roughly on an A4 sheet, was not a prank as they had initially been led to believe. A Class XII student said, “I had received the question paper the night before the exam in a WhatsApp group. My friends and I did not believe that it could have been the official question paper as the questions were messily scrawled on an A4 sheet and did not have an official seal on it. Moreover, no one wanted to go through another exam paper just hours before the exam. I remember glancing through the paper during my last-minute revision, but since there were many calculations involved I didn’t dwell on it for long. I was in for a rude shock when all the questions seemed all too familiar in the exam hall.”
A few students also approached their teachers as soon as they left their exam halls. Anitha Suresh, a maths teachers, said, “We understood what the students were going though. It was disbelief and shock that was written across many students’ faces when they walked out of the exam hall. Many showed me the message they received on their phones and before we could react, the paper leak became public.”
“The question paper looked so much like one that would be set by a teacher or a tuition centre. No one assumed that it was actually the official paper that was leaked. Additionally, the paper was circulated widely during the late hours on the evening of the exam. Many students chose to ignore it,” says another student.
“As per students’ reports, the question paper was not leaked in the official format. This proves that the culprits took the trouble to ensure that they are not traced through photocopy centres or that the number of question papers and the seal in the packet of papers is also intact. It looks as if someone hurriedly copied the questions,” said Anitha Suresh.
15k sign online petition to cancel examinations
A petition to the CBSE has been uploaded online with more than 15,000 signatures from students, demanding the cancellation of the examination of the Class X maths and Class XII economics papers. The underlying complaint of students who have signed the petition is that “Every student should not be punished for a few.” Aravind Mehta, a Class XII student, who started an online petition tweeted, “Just think, why should innocent students who had no clue about a paper leak suffer? Also, why should all the students sit for a re-exam?
The paper was leaked in Delhi so students who would write the exams for the Delhi region should give the exam again. It’s a waste of our time and resources. People who are entrusted to conduct fair exams should resign now. The value that CBSE has lost with this step will never be regained!” Member of Parliament, Shashi Tharoor, retweeted this post.
Although only students took part in the petition, many parents commented that they were worried about the plight of their children. Rithivika Sunil, a concerned parent says, “How can we answer our child’s queries? All of us, including parents and teachers, are very tensed about the new question paper. In order to ensure that the new question paper is different from the leaked one, they will change the question pattern. You cannot change it within a week in such a tense situation and expect them to do well.”
Sai Ganesh, a Class X student who started another petition said, “We think that everyone should not be penalized for a handful of students’ atrocities. Many families had made plans to migrate to places, hence it makes it impossible for a few students to write their exam.”
