SSLC exam row: Opposition bays for minister blood

Thiruvananthapuram: The Opposition  has demanded the resignation of Education Minister C.  Raveendranath and a judicial probe into the controversies on the SSLC and higher-secondary question papers. Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, who will stage a dharna  in front of the secretariat on Wednesday raising the demand, alleged that the flaws were caused by the  involvement of the pro-CPM Kerala School Teachers Association leaders in the preparation of the question papers.   The suspension of  one Sujith Kumar in this connection was an attempt to shield others, he said.

“Such goof-ups in SSLC and higher-secondary question papers have never occurred.  The education minister should resign as he failed to ensure fool-proof conduct of these crucial exams.  A  comprehensive probe,  preferably  judicial, should be conducted into the issues,”  Mr. Chennithala told reporters. Alleging that there were problems in the  SSLC Hindi and Plus-Two journalism subsidiary exams also,  he  asked  the government to  address the woes of the students.

Normally,  the list of teachers for preparing SSLC question papers is   given by the State Council for Education Research and Training. But this time,  the pro-CPM KSTA selected  the teachers.   Prakasan,  who used to write a maths column in a local daily,  and K.C. Vinod of KSTA,  who was closely associated with the  Malabar Education Research Institute,    were involved in the preparation of the question papers.   The questions for about 50 marks had earlier appeared in the daily, he alleged. He also submitted a memorandum  to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan  listing the demands.