SHILLONG/TURA: The opposition Congress and an NGO from Phulbari, Anti Corruption and Human Development Organisation (ACHDO), demanded proper probe into the incident of question paper leak.
The state government is yet to release any official statement on the incident.
While Congress spokesperson Zenith Sangma and Phulbari legislator, Azad Zaman criticised the inaction of the NPP led MDA government, the ACHDO wanted a CBI probe into the leak of the Meghalaya Teachers Eligibility Test examination (MTET) that was held on Thursday.
Zaman also said there should be a CBI probe into the matter.
“We want to know who set up the question papers, where was the printing done and under whose custody the questions papers were kept.”
He said while applying for the examination, the applicants had to spend a lot of money since there was no online application.
“It is sad that the NPP led MDA government cannot even conduct an examination for teachers with seriousness”, he said.
The MTET papers were leaked prior to the beginning of the exams and a Shillong based lawyer from the High Court filed an FIR at the Tura police station, the same day.
“MTET was the greatest opportunity for genuine, poor and needy candidates as the selection of the teachers’ recruitment will be independent and based on talent .We were immensely glad and thankful to the NPP led MDA government for the opportunity but now that has come to waste,” said ACHDO president, Ishraful Hoque.
The NGO stated that the leak has broken the back of honest and genuine candidates with all candidates now asking for a re-examination. “There needs to be complete security in the process going forward,” stated the NGO.
“We are really shocked, desperate and ashamed over the security system of education department which has raised many questions. This leak is akin to the Education Scam. We wonder as to why there has been no official announcement on the matter. Who will take responsibility for this mess,” asked the NGO.
“Those involved should be arrested and the source of the leak needs to be determined,” demanded the NGO.
Stating that the leak is from one centre and only one paper, he said, “We do not want to make a hasty decision, we want to find out what is the magnitude.”
He claimed that other papers were not affected and informed that the leaked paper was of Lower Primary (Paper 1).
However, as per media reports, several question papers were leaked.
When pointed out that there are chances of leak of question papers in other centres, Rymbui said, “We will have to look into the matter”.
Asked if fresh examination will be conducted, Rymbui said it is too premature for the department to say anything about the conduct of fresh examinations as the issue has to be studied thoroughly.
More than 28,000 candidates appeared in the MTET examination.
Terming the leakage of paper as an unfortunate incident, he said the department is determined to find the truth and will take steps accordingly.
The question papers meant for appointment of teachers were leaked several days before the scheduled date and time of the examination.
The Directorate of Educational Research and Training conducted the Meghalaya Teacher Eligibility Test (MTET) for appointment of teachers.
Even as candidates sat for the MTET examination on Thursday hoping to be appointed as Lower Primary and Upper Primary school teachers, the leakage was revealed through an FIR filed at Tura police station on the same day.
With the source of the MTET leakage being from a WhatsApp message, the police are examining what level of leakages has happened since the message was forwarded from persons to persons.
“The IO is working very seriously. The third and fourth level of linkages has also been established. The problem is that the people who have leaked the paper generally do not belong to the same district and are spread across places,” police sources said.
“We are in the process of bringing in them all in for investigation,” the police sources added.
Asked if they will approach cyber experts, the police source said they are handling the matter at their own level while the department will subsequently require cyber expert for further concrete evidence.
