Karnataka failing Class 12 students by not ending leaked paper menace

The fate of nearly 1,75,000 students appearing for the 12th standard examination (also referred to as second pre-university examination in Karnataka), a critical phase in any student's life, is hanging in balance.

Thanks to the Congress government in Karnataka that failed to keep the questions of the chemistry paper under wraps, students are now facing a nightmare while the minister concerned is blaming the department of pre-university (PU) education officials.

In this advanced era of online secure examination system, it comes as a surprise that the questions get leaked - not once, but twice - and the government remains clueless.

The government may have acted quickly by handing over the case to the CID police officials, who netted several big fish, including a special officer working for the minister for medical education, for leaking the questions for monetary gains.

But the fact remains that the government system has not changed since the last three decades despite question papers of second PU examinations getting leaked frequently at various levels. Never has the government taken the issue seriously, but this time, its image taken a severe beating in the eye of the public.

The government cannot sit quiet by just ordering a probe. It has to stem the rot from the system. There are hundreds of officials who are working at the same centres in the department of pre-university education for more than a decade. They have to be transferred out and replaced with a new bunch of officials.

Many of these officials are in cahoots with teachers, who run expensive tutorials for second PU students. It is not a secret that some of the students attending well-known tutorials are aware of the questions even before the examination. The nexus between the officials and the tutorials has to be broken down.

This year, the question paper leak was waiting to happen, as predicted by many. The chemistry examination was originally scheduled for March 21, but by then the questions were circulating on WhatsApp and this prompted the government to reschedule it to March 29.

However, hours before the examination, the questions were once again leaked and students were stopped from entering the examination centre. Now, the examination has been rescheduled to April 12, closer to the date of other entrance examination for professional courses.

Ironically, Karnataka's minister for primary and secondary education minister Kimmane Ratnakar has declared that he will quit office if the questions get leaked for the third time! The leaking of second PU question papers is not at all an unfamiliar incident these days in Karnataka.

In 1993, when I appeared for the second PU examination, the chemistry paper questions were out in the open, some of them were even published in local newspapers, a day before the examination. Incidentally, most of the questions that were out in the open were the same the next day in the question paper!

However, a re-examination was not ordered and all of us were saved from the hardship. Now, 23 years have passed by and nothing is stopping the miscreants from making money by leaking papers.

It is time that the government should adopt technology to prevent these kinds of examination malpractices. Even today, students of second PU write lengthy descriptive and objective answers in the examination spread over three hours. The evaluation of the answer scripts is also a matter of concern, as students complain of poor scores.

Every year, thousands of students apply for revaluation of their answer scripts by paying a fee. Some of them are forced to appear for the supplementary examinations as well.

The government can end this process by revamping the examination system. Computerising the entire process, including the examination, is one of the options. After all, it was Karnataka that demonstrated to the rest of the country how to conduct Common Entrance Test for admission into professional courses without providing any scope for malpractice.

It will take the government at least two-three years to put the entire system in place, but it is better late than never.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)