Students who spread rumours about paper leakage for the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) or the second year pre-university examinations to be held in March and April this year will be debarred from the examination. This includes forwarding messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
For several years now, copying during the examination, helping other students, and so on, has been considered a malpractice. Now, students who indulge in rumours will also be considered as having committed malpractice and will not be allowed to appear for the examinations if found guilty.
At a press conference on Friday, S.R. Umashankar, Principal Secretary of the Department of Primary and Secondary Education said that students are put to hardship as they fall prey to rumours. “In an attempt to put an end to this practice, we are planning to include spreading rumours as a malpractice,” he said.
Instead, students who hear rumours can alert the department so that an investigation is carried out, an official said. “Several times students take an old question paper and change the date and circulate it and tell other students that it is the question paper of the ongoing exam. This leads to panic among students and affects their preparation,” said Primary and Secondary Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar.
This decision was taken after a meeting was convened by Mr. Kumar with Rajneesh Goel, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, and several other officials. The department has decided to take the help of the cyber crime department to keep a track of the rumour-mongering. “They will track activities of several stakeholders to ensure that there is no paper leakage,” said Mr Suresh Kumar.
Cyber cafés and tuition centres
The department has also told the Police Department to ensure that there is a vigil around tuition centres as well as cyber cafés. The Karnataka Secure Examination System that includes a slew of measures to ensure that there is no paper leakage have also been implemented. This year, all the staff including the heads of the examination centres will not be allowed to use their mobile phones.
