NEW DELHI, March 31 (PTI): Scuttled holiday plans, clashes with entrance dates, another round of tuitions and above all the 'phobia' of facing the examination day yet again----sum up the dilemma being faced by class 10 and 12 students of CBSE across the country.
Aujaswi Maken, Class 10 student and Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken's son: "We are really disappointed. The CBSE chairman was aware of the leak of Mathematics paper a day before the examination. They should have cancelled the paper earlier itself. Many of us had plans to go for a vacation, but the plans stand cancelled now".
Vanshika, a Class 12 student who has to reappear for Economics paper: "First of all, the authorities should have ensured there was no paper leak. Why should we suffer and go through the same drill? The paper was so good and now we have to again prepare for it. Also, my film making entrance exams are clashing with the tentative dates being announced by CBSE on television".
Somasree Banik, a student from Kolkata: "The state Joint Entrance Board Engineering examinations will be held on April 22. Will the CBSE authorities explain how can one prepare for the Economics re-examination on April 25 while preparing for the engineering entrance which is far more tough?"
Shreya, Class 10 student from Chennai: "I am feeling pressured and it is very difficult for me to study Maths again. Recalling all those formulae is tough. I have to again take tuitions and pay the fees. I feel that the coming paper (re-test) will be tougher. Also, my entrance exam for another school has also been affected"
Nikhil, Class 12 student from Amity International School, Gurgaon: "I used to spend 16 hours everyday to prepare for the board exams. And then you come to know that the papers have been leaked. What is the guarantee that the re-examination will not be tampered with? If our system is flawed, what is the fault of students?"
Soumyadip Chandra, a Class 12 student of South Point High School in Kolkata: "All my plans have gone haywire with these developments. My preparations for admission to the Presidency University, Kolkata and Benaras Hindu University, where the entrance exams will be held in mid-April and May, respectively will now be affected".
Sneha Aggarwal, a student of Delhi Public School, Gurgaon: "I got to know that question papers were being offered at Rs 16,000 a night before the exam, and Rs 3,000 if one wanted it on the examination day. This is such a sorry state of affairs. I had planned to go out of station after the exams, but now I have to again face the exam".
Anisha Jain, Class 10 student from Delhi: "If such an incident happens, there should be a re-exam, but the energy levels of students will not be same as before. Punishing all students for a few people's mistake is unfair".
Manisha, Class 12 student from Haryana: "My entrance tests are lined up from April 20. I had also enrolled myself for various crash courses. Now, what should I do? Should I prepare for the re-examination or the entrance? I am confused".
Rishabh, Class 10 student from Ambala: "There is confusion about the Maths re-test. It is adding to our stress level. The CBSE should clear the confusion".
CBSE Class 10 re-test only if there's 'large-scale leak', says Javadekar
New Delhi: Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the announcements made by his ministry on Friday should clear all confusion regarding the re-test of the CBSE Class 10 maths and Class 12 Economics papers.
The re-examination of the board's Class 12 economics paper will be held on April 25, while the Class 10 mathematics re-test, if required, would be conducted only for Delhi-NCR and Haryana in July, the government said on Friday, amid widespread outrage over the papers leak issue.
In a series of tweets, the Union Minister reiterated the statements made by School Education Secretary Anil Swarup and said the aim of the government was to ensure that children's futures are not hampered.
"In the larger interest of academics and students the sensitive government has taken a decision not to have nationwide retest in Maths for class 10th. As far as Delhi and Haryana, where police investigation is on, retest for Class-X Maths will be conducted only if investigation points to large scale leak," he tweeted.
In the interest of students of 12th class so that their career is not hampered, their economics retest will happen on April 25. So now no confusion. All the best, Javadekar said in a tweet.
Ruling out a nationwide re-tests for Class 10 mathematics, the HRD Ministry said that a final decision on the re-examination for Delhi-NCR and Haryana would be taken in the next 15 days following a detailed inquiry.
2 coaching centre directors arrested, 4 students detained
Chatra (Jharkhand), March 31 (PTI): Six more people, including two directors of a private coaching centre here, were today apprehended in connection with the CBSE question paper leaks, police said.
Since yesterday, 12 people, including Class 10 and 11 students, have been apprehended in the CBSE leak case from Jharkhands Chatra district, they said.
The examination board came under criticism after its Class 10 mathematics and Class 12 economics papers were leaked earlier this week.
The police had yesterday detained six Class 10 students in the case.
The police said that among those apprehended today, four are students of different schools in the district and two directors of a private coaching centre here.
A Class 11 student was detained from the Navodaya Vidyalala campus here. He had hid chits containing answers of a leaked question paper in the schools bathroom, police said.
Two students are from Patna, they said. The police said that the directors have been put under arrest.
CBSE paper leak: Private school body demands HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar's resignation
NEW DELHI, March 31 (PTI): A body representing private schools has sought the resignation of HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, alleging that the government had failed to conduct the board examinations in a fair manner.
Kulbhushan Sharma, the president of the National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA), which claims to represent 60,000 private schools across the country, said the CBSE paper leak issue had caused "immense stress" for children.
He asked why the government was not taking responsibility for not being able to conduct the examinations in a fair manner.
"We have time and again requested the CBSE that the board should restrict its role to its core objective which is to conduct examinations. Under political pressure, the CBSE got deviated from its core focus and started acting like a regulator. Since the CBSE functions under the HRD ministry, we see it as failure of the government and demand immediate resignation of the HRD minister," he said in a statement.
NISA suggested that the CBSE should be a completely independent and autonomous body and recommended separation of roles of the ministry and the board, according to the statement.
"There should be independent and autonomous institutions for regulation, financing and assessment of education. As long as all the three roles are controlled by the ministry, incidents such as the CBSE paper leak would continue to happen," NISA national coordinator Amit Chandra said.
Google helps Delhi Police to identify sender of alert
New Delhi, March 31 (IANS): The Delhi Police SIT, investigating the CBSE paper leaks case, has got a response by Google team which helped them identify the man who has sent the mail to alert the Board Chairman Anita Karwal, a police officer said.
The police officer, speaking anonymity because he was not authorised to give probe details, said: "The man who sent the alert to CBSE Chairman is being questioned to ascertain from where he got the question papers and who were the culprits in this syndicate."
"The man using email id 'dev0532@gmail.com' had alerted Karwal on March 28 regarding the leak of Class 10 mathematics paper," he added.
"Beside this, three persons including a school principal, a CBSE employee and one more have also been questioned in the probe," he said, adding police are also checking seven teachers' bank account details to establish any money laundering was done in this syndicate.
He said the SIT has already written to WhatsApp Headquarters in California, seeking its help "to revive the deleted chats and messages shared on these groups, has also got some details which are being examined with Cyber experts".
Meanwhile, Special Commissioner of Police R.P. Upadhyaya said: "The SIT has so far questioned 53 students and 7 teachers in connection with the leak of Class 10 maths and Class 12 economics question papers. Six WhatsApp groups figuring in the trail of transmission of papers are also being looked into."
"Two more ACP-rank officers with their teams have been added in SIT for further probe," he added.
The CBSE paper leak of Class 10 maths and Class 12 economics question papers has affected lakhs of students across India.
Earlier the CBSE academic unit at Rouse Avenue near ITO had on March 26 received some sheets of handwritten answers of economics paper in an envelope without sender's name.
Kerala student moves SC against CBSE re-exam decision
A Kerala student moved the Supreme Court on Saturday seeking quashing of the CBSE decision to re-conduct Class 10 mathematics examination after reports that the paper had been leaked in Delhi.
Rohan Mathew, a student of Choice School in Kochi, contended that the decision to re-conduct the exam was arbitrary, illegal and violative of the Constitution's Article 14 (equality before law), Article 21 (right to life and liberty) and 21A (right to education).Seeking direction to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to evaluate the answer sheets of the maths paper held on March 28 and declare the final results, Mathew said a special high powered committee should be set up to inquire into the "facts and circumstances" leading to the re-exam decision.
The student, represented by his father Santhosh Mathew - a practicing lawyer of Kerala High Court, also sought stringent action against the erring officers of the CBSE for "jeopardising the career of nearly 16 lakh students who appeared for the exam". Questioning the CBSE decision to cancel the exam and re-conduct it "merely based on unconfirmed apprehension that the question paper has been leaked in Delhi", he said unless there is evidence for "widespread and systemic leaking of papers, cancellation of examination of this magnitude is not the solution".
The petitioner contended that the question that arises is whether the decision, dated March 28, based on "mere apprehension that there is a likelihood of the exam having been compromised is violative of the proportionality doctrine".
Describing the decision as "arbitrary and illegal", Mathew said it goes against his "legitimate expectation" of over 16 lakh students who had appeared for the March 28 exam in India and abroad.
