Education authorities in Bihar say 600 high school students have been expelled after they were found to have cheated in pressure-packed Class 10 examinations.
Officials said they were tightening security at high schools in Bihar state after television footage showed parents and friends of the students scaling the outer walls of school buildings to reach classrooms where exams were being held to pass along cheat sheets.
On Thursday, the Hindustan Times published a photo of dozens of men clambering up the wall of a four-storey test centre in Bihar state, perched on window ledges as they folded answer sheets into paper planes flown into classrooms.
“Should we shoot them?” asked Prashant Kumar Shahi, Bihar’s education minister, addressing a news conference after television news channels aired the incriminating footage and raked up the scandal.
“On average, four or five persons are helping each student use unfair means,” Shahi said, adding it was impossible to curb cheating if parents encouraged their children.
More than 1.4 million Class 10 students are sitting for the test across the country. They face tremendous pressure because they must pass the exams to continue their education.
Here’s the actual video footage of cheating in Bihar board exams:
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)