Karnataka: Pre-University Board fails the test

Question paper leaks. That old bugbear of the II PU board examinations in the state is back to haunt students and parents. But in this day and age when technology is available to ensure a foolproof test process, only a disinterested and lethargic — or worse, corrupt — Pre-University Board could have let it happen once again in 2016, ironically with the culprits using technology — Whatsapp — to leak the Chemistry question paper. Why can’t the Board digitize the whole process, send question papers to centres across the state as a password-protected e-mail fifteen minutes before start of the examination, ask experts.

‘Change the question paper delivery system’
Karan Kumar of Shruth and Smith Foundation maintains that  unless  the question paper delivery system is changed, it will not be possible to plug the leaks. Pointing out this system has been working well for the last few years at the VTU , he suggests that  question papers should be prepared based on an online random question selection system and  sent to the centres a few hours before the examination is scheduled to begin. “As questions are selected randomly from a question bank there is no room for human interference .  There is also no printing of  question papers or the need to transport them, making the examination system more transparent,”  he says.

‘Probe link between board, tuition mafia’
There should be CID or high level investigation into the connection between the tuition  mafia and PU department officials,” says Mr. Radhakrishna Bhat, an academician, recalling that investigation into the 2012 question paper scam had revealed that the tuition mafia had easy access to the PU board. “The 2012 investigation report should be made public as a few colleges from Chikkaballapur, Kolar were blacklisted by then PU board director, Rashmi V. The government should not allow such racketeers to play with the future of students,” he underlines.

Too many heads: Who is to blame?
The PU Board has had three directors in the past year, making it hard to fix accountability for the recent question paper leak. While Mr. B S Ramesh was director for the first few months, he was later transferred. Senior IAS officer, Chakravarthy Mohan took over as director (in charge) for a couple of weeks before Ms Pallavi Akurathi was appointed to the post full time.

“When work on preparing for the final examination is carried on all through the year, it is unfair to keep transferring the board’s directors on a whim. Now no one is really sure who was the director when the leaked question papers were set and sent for printing. The blame game can easily begin,” points out an officer.

Many associated with the board feel its impossible to get access to the question papers without the help of insiders. “Usually question papers are sent to the centres just an hour before the examination although they reach the local treasury three or four days in advance in sealed boxes. So there is no chance of a question paper being leaked at the examination centres. The poor teachers, who were working as the superintendents, are now being made scapegoats,” the officer regrets.

‘Hold online exams’
Former Vice Chancellor of the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Dr. K Balaveera Reddy, feels better use of technology is the answer to the frequent PU Board question paper leaks. “The board could hold online examinations on the lines of  GATE or CAT. But if it feels this is not possible due to lack of computers it can opt for other technological solutions. There are many available, including generating online question papers,” he points out.

He also believes its necessary to  change the examination pattern as presently students are tested only on how much they can memorise and not on what they have actually learnt in the classroom or their problem solving capacity. “We must bring in overall changes in the examination pattern to see how much a student has learnt about a subject and whether he is ready to move on to higher classes,” Dr Reddy emphasises. “A rational examination scheme will put an end to all the issues surrounding exams, including threats by  lecturers to boycott the evaluation work,” he sums up.

‘Prepare multiple question papers’
An officer from the state primary and secondary education department believes preparing multiple question papers is the answer. “If the  PU board prepares 20 to 25 sets of question papers, it will be hard to tell which one will actually appear. It could try doing this,” he suggests. Although the board currently prepares the question papers with the help of lecturers of recognised colleges and only a handful are privy to the exercise, the system is not foolproof, he notes. “Even if  the racketeers get some questions they can make big money out of it. And with only a few sets of question papers made they find it easy to tell which is likely to appear,” he argues.

‘Transfer PU board officials regularly’
According to those in the know the problem is that some officers of the state PU board and the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board have been in their posts for decades and have all inside information on how they function. “Interestingly question paper leaks are being reported from  districts where such officers are stationed. This has to be investigated,” says a senior retired officer, suggesting that regular transfer of officers is the solution.  

“When scandals were reported from the KPSC,the government decided to regularly transfer officials to ensure that vested interests did not get a hold on the system. The same rule should be applied to both  the PU and SSLC board. Their examination section should be revamped once in two or three years,” he contends.

The nexus
Those involved in leaking question papers are clever. Aware that if they get in touch with only those involved in preparing the question papers, they will get only a few questions as no one is aware which question paper set will finally be distributed, they contact those involved in printing and transporting the question paper to the examination centres, say sources. Once the questions are available, they sell them to the tuition mafia for a high price, they reveal. In return, the coaching centers demand more money from their students banking on their ‘100 per cent success rate’.

Need technology-based solution to this problem: Nagendran Sundararajan, Executive Vice President at MeritTrac
Question paper leaks cause unrest and displeasure among all stakeholders. Risk to reputation coupled with the monetary loss makes it necessary for examination bodies to prevent such leaks. It is important to leverage technology in the examination process to eliminate the possibility of such fraudulent activity.

The traditional approach to examinations and question paper management has several areas of vulnerability that are typically exploited. The question paper printing, the various test centres and places of storage make it difficult to maintain control and security. I suggest a technology- based solution to this problem in line with our own time question paper management formula.

Under such a system, questions are ‘authored’ by subject experts in a computer from a highly secure and monitored facility allocated by the examination body. The question bank manager then creates multiple sets of question papers based on the questions that have been authored. The Controller of Examination selects the final question paper on the day of the examination and creates encrypted question packs, which are sent to the pre-allocated computers at the test centres. He also sends the passwords to pre-registered mobile numbers of the authorised representative (principals) at the test centres an hour before the start of the exam.

The authorised representatives then accesses the question pack and the question papers are printed according to the classroom and seat allocation. The printed papers are packed classroom-wise and are available only at the time of examination. The question paper is accessed and printed in a strongroom which is under constant surveillance. As these question papers are not exposed at any point in time, the chances of a leak are eliminated.