CBSE paper leak: 1,715 students in Bawana stare at a grim future
NEW DELHI: It was on April 1 this year, when 17-year-old Mansi Chikara was informed by her neighbour that two of her school teachers had been arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 Economics paper leak. Chikara, a Class 12 student at Mother Khazani Convent School in Bawana — from where the question paper was leaked — rushed to her house and switched on the television.
“It was all over the news. It was my school. They were my teachers. How did this happen?” recalled Chikara, adding that the incident took place on her first day of Class 12.
Though Chikara’s batch has been allowed to appear for the Board exam to be held in 2019 along with the batch currently pursuing Class 10 from the school, the future of around 1,700 students studying i n other classes is “uncertain”. Reason: the school was de-affiliated by the CBSE after the paper leaked from its premises on March 26.
According to the police, the two teachers had opened the sealed question papers, took photos on their mobile phones and shared them with a tutor in a private coaching centre i n Bawana. Later, the school principal was also arrested in connection with the case. The school had approached the Delhi high court against the board’s decision. However, it has not received any relief from the court as of now and the matter is sub judice. The next hearing is scheduled on Monday.
Dalbeer Singh, the vice-chairperson of the school, said that as many as 660 students have left the school after the incident. “The strength of our school has come down from 2,375 to 1,715 in the last seven months. There is a mass exodus from Class 11. Around 50% of students have left after Class 10 this year. There is a sense of uncertainty over the
existence of the school among parents of students studying up to Class 8 and those in Class 10 because they will have to shift to some other school if we do not get a stay from the high court,” he said.
For Deepanshu Dahiya, a Class 10 student, even the idea of switching schools is “terrifying”. “I am studying here in since
Class 5. All my friends and teachers are here. My parents have started shortlisting schools for me but I don’t think I will be able to adjust anywhere else easily,” he said.
Similarly, 13-year-old Palak Rana, a class 8 student at the school, said, “I have been studying in this school since nursery. Why do I need to suffer because of the deeds of two teachers who are no more a part of our school?” she said.
Amid the paper leaks, the arrests, the de-affiliation and the court case, the students are the ones who have suffered the most, said Sanjay Singh, Economics teacher at the school. Police had said the two teachers had allegedly shared the leaked paper with their students as well. But Singh denied the claim.
“It’s not that the result of our students was bad. The highest score in Economics in 2016-17 was 96% and the overall pass percentage was 90. None of our students had seen the paper before their exam. I don’t understand who those teachers were trying to help,” he said.
Officials said that the school is known for sports activities. “Our Class 12 student Mohit Jhangra plays for the Under 19 India team which recently won the World Cup. Our students are known for contributions in football and kabbadi. The CBSE held its All India Kabaddi Tournament at our campus in 2016. We have grounds and space for every sport here. If the school loses the affiliation, all this would have been in vain,” said Dalbeer Singh.
While officials of CBSE denied comment saying that the matter is “sub judice”, those at the Delhi government’s Directorate of Education (DOE) said that they are looking into the matter. “The directorate had issued a show cause notice to which a reply has been received. An inquiry is underway,” said a DOE official.
Meanwhile, Singh said that if the school gets a stay from the court, it will never apply for the board examination centre again. “We can’t revert whatever has already happened here. Because of two persons, the future of around 1,700 students and 100 teaching and non-teaching staff members are at stake. We, too, are apprehensive about being an examination centre again. I hope that those who did the crime are punished and the students spared,” he said.