BOSE to keep board exam papers at police stations to check leak

After being criticised for alleged incidents of question paper leak at various examination centres across the Jammu division during annual board exams of the summer zone for the past few years, the J&K Board of School Education (JKBOSE) has decided to keep the question papers at police stations concerned. The practice will commence in the upcoming exams of Class X and XII wherein the superintendents of examination centres will have to collect the papers from the police station hours before the commencement of the exam.
Sources said in the previously held board examinations of the Jammu division there were reports of paper leak before its commencement which had raised questions over the arrangements of the school education board to conduct examinations in a fair manner.
They added that most of the reports of paper leak and mass copying were reported from examination centres at RS Pura wherein many cases were registered against the candidates.
“Earlier, the question papers were used to be kept at the examination centres wherein the superintendents of the centres reach before the commencement of the exam and hand it over to the staff to circulate among the candidates. But due to unknown reasons, the questions paper got leaked at some centres, which has tarnished the image of BOSE,” a source claimed.
“Now, from the upcoming annual board exams, the question papers will be kept at the police stations concerned. For example, if the examination centre is at a Nowabad school in Jammu city, the superintendent has to collect the question paper from the Nowabad police station. Similarly, at other centres, the same practice will be followed in all districts of the Jammu division where the examination centres are being established,” he added.
When contacted, Prof Zahoor Ahmed Chat, Chairman, BOSE, said efforts were being made to keep a strict vigil on such incidents. “We hope that this experiment will definitely prove beneficial to stop the question paper leak before examinations at various centres not only in far-flung areas, but also in Jammu city.
He added that heavy deployment of police personnel would be done at highly sensitive examination centres to ensure that there was no incident of copying. “Copying in board exams is a serious issue. Though at most of the centres it is not allowed, but there are centres where these incidents happen. So in order to prevent them, we are seeking the help of the police authorities. They have assured us to deploy adequate personnel outside the venue,” the BOSE Chairman claimed.
The class X examination is scheduled to commence from March 4, 2016. A total of 518 centres have been set up by the BOSE across the Jammu division. More than 50,000 candidates would appear in the exams.
In the Class XII examination commencing from February 25, more than 42,000 students would appear at 276 centres in the entire division.