Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has admitted shortcomings in the National Testing Agency (NTA) examination process and also in the online marking system (OSM) introduced by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Pradhan said, as the minister, he is taking responsibility for what happened during the NEET-UG and CBSE 12th examinations. He promised such mistakes would not happen in future.
However, the Supreme Court has taken a strong stand. It has put several questions before the government. The apex court asked why steps that are being taken now to plug loopholes were not taken earlier? Did the government fix responsibility for the shortcomings?
If those who were responsible for the shortcomings have not been identified yet, how can one give a guarantee that the NEET-UG question paper will not be leaked during re-test in June?
On behalf of the Centre, the apex court was told that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was personally keeping a watch on the situation and suggestions for using Indian Air Force aircraft to transport question papers to exam centres are being considered.
Assistance of senior IIT experts are being taken for setting question papers and efforts are being made to make the whole process tech driven : from setting question papers to checking of answer sheets. Since human interference will be zero, there will be no scope for leaks, the court was told.
The Supreme Court said if the Prime Minister had to intervene to conduct an examination, it was a matter of shame for the system.
The court asked the Centre why NEET papers are being leaked frequently and what preventive steps government and NTA took to plug loopholes. Is action being taken against those who are guilty or are they being shielded?
The apex court said the issue relates to the future of lakhs of students and it cannot be taken lightly.
Federation of All India Medical Associations and Association of doctors and several other organizations have petitioned the apex court demanding complete dissolution or radical structural overhaul of NTA following widespread paper leaks and cancellation of NEET-UG exam.
Medical entrance exam question papers were leaked five times since 2015, and thrice after the NTA was set up. Questions are therefore being raised about the competence of NTA.
Supreme Court is right in observing that it is a matter of shame if Prime Minister has to intervene to prevent the question paper of an exam being leaked.
If the system is weak and the assistance of Indian Air Force is being sought to transport question papers to exam centres, then it is also a matter of concern. The Education Minister is right when he says that if paper setters or translators start leaking questions for money, what can be done?
It is the Education Minister’s responsibility to decide what to do and how to do. Why should 22 lakh students and their families suffer the consequences of sins committed by the unscrupulous and the corrupt?
Every family toils hard when a student prepares for an exam. How will the system compensate the families who had to go through travails?
CBSE: Use technology carefully
Apart from NTA, questions are also being raised about the on-line marking system introduced by CBSE this year. Lakhs of students have complained about incorrect markings, change in answer sheets and incorrect totalling of marks.
More than four lakh students applied for scanned copies of their answer sheets, the last date was May 24, CBSE portal hanged and many could not pay the fees. On Friday, CBSE announced a dedicated portal has been set up and students can apply from June 1 onwards for scanned copies and re-evaluation.
Dharmendra Pradhan admitted glitches occurred in CBSE portal and the payment gateway was hacked. He said, CBSE has now improvised its digital process and four public sector banks will clear the payments.
Complaints of getting stuck in payment gateways had come from thousands of students in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and other cities. More than 4 lakh students complained of getting lower marks in Class 12 exam and had sought more than 11 lakh scanned answer sheets. Till now, CBSE has managed to send more than 8 lakh scanned sheets.
It does not matter whether Class 10 or Class 12 answer sheets were checked manually by teachers or through OSM, but marking must be correct.
Why should lakhs of students toil hard for the whole year for exam, and when results are declared they find incorrect markings on their answer sheets? This is an issue relating to the future of lakhs of students. It should not be taken lightly.
It is not the first time the CBSE has conducted exams. When it introduced online screen marking system, it should have made full preparations. Why should one accept that if OSM system is successful in the US and Europe, it should be the same here?
In a place like Noida, the number of students who appeared in CBSE Class 12 exam is more than the number of all students studying in Germany, UK and France. One should have tested the efficacy of OSM system before it was implemented.
I think, technology should be used to make tasks easier and faster, instead of creating more tension. The argument that if it is a success across the world, it will be the same here, cannot be applied in all cases.
CBSE can take help from UP Board of Secondary Education. While nearly 18 lakhs appeared in CBSE Class 12 exam, 24.86 lakh students appeared for the UP Board Class 12 exam. All answer sheets in UP were checked manually and the results came ahead of the CBSE results. There were hardly any serious complaints.
Bihar: Action against tender mafia
Bihar chief minister Samrat Chaudhary is following in the footsteps of Yogi Adityanath in taking action against criminals and corrupt people in his state.
Special Vigilance Unit in Patna unearthed a huge tender scam after arresting the kingpin Rishu Ranjan Sinha.
This man was “managing” government tenders in cahoots with some corrupt officials, and was getting 9 pc commission, out of which 5 pc commission was distributed to officials.
Nearly two crore worth gold ornaments and a huge amount of cash was seized from Rishu Ranjan’s home. Already, Enforcement Directorate is probing him in money laundering case.
Water resources, urban development and building construction departments are being probed after the tender scam was exposed. Investigators found that Sinha was managing properties purchased by some officials in France, UAE and Switzerland. He purchased 61 properties worth Rs 58 crore in the last few years.
Tender mafia is not new in Bihar. The problem: no action is taken because officials from top to bottom are compromised. Since Samrat Chaudhary has shown courage in dealing with such scamsters, nobody must be spared, irrespective of caste, religion or party affiliation.
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