The CBSE paper leak which forced the board to announce re-examination of Class 10 Mathematics and Class 12 Economics papers has shaken the entire nation. On one hand, thousands of young children have taken to streets demanding the cancellation of the exam. On the other, the controversy has already made its way into the political corridors. However, the more significant worry for the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Human Resource Development ministry at large should be to address the trust deficit in the board and the entire examination system that the incidents in the past week or so have created in the minds of students and the population at large.
There are some crucial challenges that the CBSE and Prakash Javadekar’s ministry are faced with. First and foremost, restoring the integrity of the entire process is what should ideally be on top of the government’s mind. Students numbering in several thousands are frustrated to their wits at the prospect of having to take the burden of the exam all over again. Also, the trust deficit that the entire paper leak scandal has created is raising further doubts on whether the CBSE can ensure that such incidents do not recur.
Big political statements and jibes aside, what remains uncertain is the future of millions of students who would still be wondering – ‘what went wrong’! The fool-proof system that the CBSE claimed its high pedestals on is shattered. The police have started its investigation as to how the papers were leaked. And primary findings in the investigation into the incident so far reveal no better.
Here is what we know of the CBSE Paper Leak probe so far:
1. Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) R P Upadhyay, while addressing the media on Thursday, said that their investigation is only based in Delhi as there is no information that the leakage happened pan-India. This is contradictory to what the board said. CBSE claimed that it is not possible to find out how many students had access to the paper since it was leaked on WhatsApp. That is why the re-examination will take place pan-India, forcing 20 lakh students to reappear in the exam.
2. Crucially, police also said that CBSE has in its complaint stated that it had received an e-mail a day before the Class 10 Mathematics exam claiming that the paper had been leaked. Reports, citing police sources, said that the CBSE chairman Anita Karwal had received an email informing of the paper leak, but she did not take any action on it. Reports said the CBSE found the email to be unverified and thus did not act.
3. So far, the crime branch has questioned 25 people in connection with the leak including the owner of a coaching centre, 18 students and some tutors. The people who were questioned by police include 18 students out of which seven were college goers, five tutors and two others. “It has been established that both the papers were leaked before the scheduled dates of examinations and were circulated and exchanged on WhatsApp among some tutors and students,” the police said.
4. Out of this, some of the tutors teach at home while the others are employed at coaching centres. There are also first-year college students, who passed on the papers to their juniors, or friends from school or coaching centres. On Friday, the police detained six students from Jharkhand for their alleged involvement in the paper leak case.
5. The police said that they are trying to establish the trail “which means finding the origin of the leakage, followed by how it was transmitted and who all were the beneficiaries”. The question paper reportedly appears in three versions – one used in Delhi, another in the rest of India and the third for those appearing outside India. Each zone also has three sets of the question paper, with same questions in a different sequence. However, this year, only one question paper was dispatched to all exam centres, increasing the damage caused.
6. The Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has reportedly identified over 10 WhatsApp groups, each having 50-60 members in connection with the case. On Friday, it also sought reply from Google as the e-mail sent to the CBSE chairperson Anita Karwal was from a Gmail ID. However, there is still no confirmation of whether money was charged in exchange for the leaked paper.
7. The Board has also been asked to share information on the entire process of conducting the examination. This includes information about how the paper is set, details of where the question papers are kept and how they are distributed to various examination centres.
8. The police also suspect the role of a tutor, Sunil Wadhwa from Rajendra Nagar in the paper leak. His name was mentioned by the CBSE in the complaint submitted to the Delhi Police. During questioning, the tutor claimed that he came across the economics paper that was circulated on WhatsApp, and made his students solve it.
9. The police also suspect the involvement of a Punjabi Bagh-based businessman. They failed to find him initially but he joined the investigation on Wednesday. Police found out that the businessman had only received the paper from some other person and just forwarded a link.
10. The Delhi Police has registered two cases. The first case in connection with the leak of economics paper was lodged on March 27 while the case pertaining to mathematics paper was lodged on March 28, following a complaint by the regional director of CBSE. The cases were registered on charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy.
Meanwhile, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar termed the paper leak as ‘unfortunate’ and said the culprits would not go scot-free. He reportedly held meetings with top officials, including Karwal, regarding the issue.
A special investigation team comprising two deputy commissioners of police, four assistant commissioners of police and five inspectors has been set up to investigate the matter. The team is being directly supervised by the joint commissioner of police (crime).