BSEM, principal dismiss question leak allegations
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, March 17 2023: Board of Secondary Education Manipur (BSEM) has denied leakage of question paper for English subject of the High School Leaving Certificate Examination (HSLCE) 2023 .

Addressing a press conference at the Board's office here on Friday, secretary Dr S Mangijao said that the it conducted an enquiry into the claim of question leakage for English subject as made by Manipur Young Students' Union (MYSU).

However, the board did not find any evidence suggesting question leak.

The board received a report of MYSU volunteers recovering a polythene bag containing question and answers in the toilet of Khang-abok Higher Secondary School, and subsequent burning of the same materials after informing the OC concerned of the Exam Centre.

The report mentioned that the polythene bag was thrown in around 11 am, which is about two hours after the examination began.

As soon as the report was received, an official team of the board led by chairman, controller of examinations and secretary visited the examination centre, and collected reports from the OC, AOC and SO of the centre.

Their reports are similar to the report submitted by MYSU.

Based on the reports from mul -tiple sources, it was confirmed that the polythene bag was thrown in from outside the school campus around two hours after the examination began.

Besides, the cheat notes did not reach the students as the whole bag was burned almost immediately.

They have also reviewed the video footage with time stamp recording the unboxing of the sealed question papers, he said and confided that the official team issued strict advice to the centre's officials to ensure non-recurrence of such activities in future.

The Board team also talked with district SP and sought cooperation in ensuring fair and peaceful conduct of the exam, the secretary maintained.

On the other hand, he said, there is an issue of a student of Bethel English School, Nambol, not receiving admit card.

Clarifying on the issue, Dr Mangijao said that the board received online payment of Rs 2,37,200 for form submission for 94 students from the school authority.

No forms were received by the board for the student in question and the board has proper documents to back the claim, he affirmed while clarifying that the board has no intention of disallowing any students from appearing in the examination and there was no mistake on the part of the board.

Meanwhile, Khangabok Higher Secondary School principal Th Radhamani Devi said that the HSLC examination conducted at its centre passed off smoothly on the first day of the examination and dismissed the question leakage allegations as an attempt to tarnish reputation of the school.

Addressing media persons at her office chamber on Friday, Th Radhamani, who is also the OC of the exam centre, informed that around 11 am Thursday, volunteers of Manipur Youth and Students' Union (MYSU) came to the school while the examination was going on and handed over a plastic bag containing cheat sheets which they said was thrown from a numberless Bolero vehicle.

The cheat sheets were later set afire.

The MYSO volunteers also informed the BSEM officials during a meeting held at the BSEM office after the examination that the cheat sheets were thrown from the Bolero.

However, it is very unfortunate to learn that MYSU had mentioned in local print and electronic media that the cheat sheets were found in the toilet of the school, which tantamount to an attempt to taint the institute, she reiterated.

Th Radhamani further informed that the question papers were handed over to students after the SO and the AOC of the examination centre collected it from the police station, with the whole process of picking up the question papers and distributing to the students captured in camera and submitted to BSEM.

The BSEM officials who were also at the centre for inspection were satisfied with the peaceful conduct of examination at the centre and even provided certificate in this regard.

While urging all concerned not to make any attempt to spoil the image of the school, Th Radhamani appealed to parents of students who are appearing in the examination at the centre not to gather near the school during the exam hours.

Comment