Summary
Addressing a news conference on the last day of the Class X board exams, conducted by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, Basu said a racket was at work to malign the state government by circulating the images
As many as 36 Madhyamik candidates were barred from writing this year’s exams after images of question papers that circulated on WhatsApp were tracked down to QR codes on their question papers, education minister Bratya Basu said on Monday.
Addressing a news conference on the last day of the Class X board exams, conducted by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, Basu said a racket was at work to malign the state government by circulating the images.
A police probe has yet to conclude that those who circulated the images were politically motivated.
On every occasion, images of a question paper surfaced while the test was still on.
The minister said they would intensify their campaign to alert students about the rule that they cannot enter examination halls with mobile phones.
“Over the past few years, we have seen a trend of images of question papers circulating on WhatsApp. We were determined to curb the malpractice this year. We have cancelled the papers of 36 students on the charge of circulating images of question papers. A racket was operating behind the scenes to influence these students,” said Basu.
“There was definitely a motive to malign the government. We will be able to say later whether there was a political motive.”
This year, the state secondary board embedded QR codes in each question paper so an image of a paper could be tracked down to the examinee who got it.
The fact that students were sneaking mobile phones into examination halls despite being asked not to do so was at the heart of the problem, said a board official.
“Some students kept their phones hidden in their undergarments or socks and entered the exam hall. Our teachers don’t have the expertise to frisk candidates. So we cannot prevent students from entering the halls with prohibited items like mobile phones. Therefore, we had to think of the QR codes,” a board official said.
The minister said it was not possible to scan all candidates with handheld metal detectors “because of the sheer number of examinees”. Around 9.23 lakh examinees wrote Madhyamik 2024.
“All that we can do is launch a relentless campaign well ahead of the examinations, at the time of the distribution of the test paper and admit cards, so that students can be sensitised,” Basu said. “The secret codes have been able to curb the malpractice to a large extent.”
Secondary education board president Ramanuj Ganguly said that of the 36 students who were penalised, 20 were from Malda.
2025 Madhyamik
Next year’s Madhyamik will start on February 14 and end on February 24, Basu said.
Last updated on 13 Feb 2024
