THE successive leaks of Class IX question papers, first in Jaintia Hills followed by Khasi Hills, reveal the rot in the educational system of the state. While the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) has come down heavily on the management of the respective schools where the crime occurred, the Board needs to nail the culprits and give them exemplary punishment. The Education Department has suffered blow after blow what with those who are supposed to lead it being the ones to tarnish its image.
The public have not yet forgotten how an Education Minister coerced her officer to delete the names of teachers who had qualified by using white ink and inserting on the list the names of those who never qualified. This case is still hanging fire. And that is the sore point! Now the person involved in the question paper leak will point to the inaction against the minister and question why he/ she should be punished for a “petty” crime. But the impact of the question paper leak is by no means a small matter. The students who had come prepared to write their examinations have suffered a setback. More than anything else their confidence in the system is completely shaken.
They are experiencing corruption within the school campus. They are devastated by the fact that some of their classmates and peers are willing to buy those question papers and pass their examinations by cheating. When the ‘cheating’ episode in Bihar went viral on social media many shuddered at the prospect of such an incident unfolding itself here in Meghalaya. Now it is galling to know that Meghalaya too has its share of scamsters right inside the educational premises. One wonders what else happens within the precincts of the centres of learning that are hidden from the public eye and whether this is the only time when question papers have leaked. MBOSE needs to get its act together and ensure strict compliance from the heads of educational institutions on following to the ‘t’ the standard operating procedures on which question papers are set and then printed and kept in safe custody until the time of the examination. This might put a stop to such insidious attempts at stealing the question papers and selling them, thereby shaking the very foundations of education, apart from bringing a bad name to Meghalaya popularly known as the educational hub of the North East.