Sorry saga of exam paper leaks continue in India

This goes against the grain of what a progressive, dynamic education system should stand for

The unfortunate saga of school exam papers being leaked and the consequent call for re-examinations continues in India as once again, a leak occurred in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examinations in two subjects, throwing students into a state of deep anguish at the prospect of a resit for no fault of theirs. Just last month, there was an exam paper leak for Staff Selection Commission exams.

This degree of porosity in what needs to be a water-tight, impenetrable system calls for severe censure of India’s Ministry of Human Resources and Development (HRD) that oversees the education system. The easy apologies of the HRD minister are glaringly insufficient in the face of what confronts students time and again — a complete negation of their year-long hard work to sit for the annual exams, even as culprits are never brought to book. This goes against the grain of what a progressive, dynamic education system should stand for. Unfortunately, repeated episodes of such inexcusable lapses in the matter of safeguarding exam papers do not provide the comfort of hoping for such an outcome.

The issue is portentous not just due to the wholly unjustifiable degree of stress and anxiety it causes to students, but also because it reflects an impassivity on behalf of the authorities who have been unable to plug the loopholes over the years. It takes only a single leak for the system to be hermetically sealed and yet, the education system in India has borne repeated atrocities in the forms of exam paper leaks with condemnable cowardice.

It’s time India made sure not one more exam paper leak occurs, ever.