Karnataka’s state board couldn’t stop the chemistry exam paper from walking out on 21 March. The exam was rescheduled to 31 March and the paper was leaked again! Now it’s scheduled for 12 April. What do you think would happen on the 12th? These paper leaks are routine at state boards and cause serious distress to millions of students in the state.
Let’s take a look at the solution provided by the Department of Pre-University Education. They have banned the use of WhatsApp to stop the paper from being leaked on 12 April. A cruel joke on students and parents as no one in the department would get punished for the leak if it were leaked again.
Apart from the state boards, CBSE, ICSE, IB (International Baccalaureate) are the other secondary education boards. State boards leak routinely, CBSE infrequently and ICSE and IB rarely ever.
So, what’s the reason for this disparity? The same reason that explains the difference in the leakage in bathrooms of the government, PSUs, and the Barista. The degree of the control by politicians and bureaucrats, in other words, the degree of autonomy and independence makes the difference.
CBSE is an autonomous and independent body but comes under the ambit of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). ICSE and IB are private boards. So, to minimise these paper leaks, the first step is institutional reform. Make state examination boards independent and autonomous. And make a senior officer responsible for the security of exam papers; we should know whose job is on the line if a paper is leaked.