CBSE paper-leak fiasco no longer limited to just NCR, Haryana
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and central government's claims that the leak of Class 10 Maths paper is restricted to Delhi, the National Capital Region and Haryana doesn't hold water anymore. Jharkhand police informed on Saturday that a local student received the question paper on WhatsApp a day before the exam. Here's more about the scandal that's getting murkier by the day.
The Jharkhand connect
According to police in Jharkhand's Chatra, the student got the question paper from another student in Bihar. He got it solved by a mathematics teacher of a private coaching institute, who, along with its two owners sold it for Rs. 500 to Rs. 5,000, reported Hindustan Times. Even the order of the questions was the same in the official CBSE paper the next day.
Police arrest teacher, coaching centre's owners, detains students in Jharkhand
The police have arrested the teacher and the coaching institute's owners. They have also detained at least nine students and produced them before the Juvenile Justice Board. Though they haven't yet been able to trace any Delhi link in the paper leak in Jharkhand, they have found the involvement of two students from Bihar. The probe has now spread beyond Delhi, NCR and Haryana.
Over 60 people questioned so far, involvement of thousands feared
Meanwhile, the Special Investigating Team (SIT) in Delhi has questioned in the last four days over 60 people, including students, teachers and tutors. What started with an email to CBSE chairperson has now snowballed into a nationwide investigation, with chain of links running into thousands of people. Considering the extensive probe, the SIT has been enlarged. It now has two DCPs and six ACPs.
Students demand cancellation of retests
As the complicated web of WhatsApp messages/emails is being probed, students and parents have been staging protests in Delhi. On Saturday, they protested outside the CBSE's Preet Vihar office, demanding that either Class 12 economics retest be cancelled, or a retest be conducted for all subjects. A Kerala student has challenged the CBSE's proposal to hold Class 10 mathematics retest in the Supreme Court.
Will there be retests? Of which subjects?
After reports of paper leaks emerged, the CBSE had cancelled Class-10 Math and Class-12 Economics exams earlier this week. It announced a nationwide retest for Economics on April 25, and said if deemed suitable, a Math re-exam would be conducted only for Class 10 students of Delhi, Haryana and the NCR.
