Answer key errors in Bihar Class X exam

■ Which one of these is not a cooking gas?

Answer: LPG ■ What is full expansion of AIDS?

Answer: Aquard Imino Deficiency Syndrom ■ Name two excretory matters?

Answer: Kidney and lungs

THESE ARE not wrong answers from a Class X student’s examination. These are among 15 wrong answers the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has marked as correct in its answer keys for at least five subjects.

The scores of around 17 lakh students, who wrote the Class X exam this year — the results are due this month-end — are now under a cloud because of the 15 wrong answers. The board has said it will sort out the matter.

A set of the BSEB’S answer keys for Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and Social Science were accessed by The Indian Express.

The state board has a panel of experts to prepare the answer keys to help exam evaluators with ready answers. The answers in the key this year became all the more important as a teachers’ boycott was on in Bihar at the time the evaluation process started. Over 50,000 teachers had boycotted exam evaluation work, demanding pay parity between government and private teachers. Sources said the board was compelled to engage middle school teachers to evaluate the answer papers, when the work should be done by high school teachers only.

BSEB chairperson Anand Kishor conceded that there are mistakes in the answer keys. “Experts of subjects have been reviewing the marking scheme. Students would be awarded full marks for wrong answers provided in the answer key. Teachers found responsible for preparing the wrong answers would be blacklisted from evaluation,” said BSEB spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Dwivedi, quoting board chairperson Kishor.

There are Physics questions where the distinction is not made between the convex lens and convex mirror, or between electricity current and electricity charge. Some of the questions carry no marks, while some have more marks allotted than other multiple-choice questions.

The Bihar Secondary School Teachers’ Association general secretary Shatrughan Prasad Singh said: “Why doesn’t the board confess that middle school teachers prepared the answer key.”