Thenmala (Kollam): The question papers of the first and second-year Vocational Higher Secondary Education (VHSE) examinations got leaked the other day as authorities of the Edamon VHS School, Punalur, distributed wrong bundles of question papers for exams.
And worse, the teachers on invigilation duty realized the grave mistake only after an hour when the students started raising doubts over the papers.
The first-year question paper on Entrepreneurial Development, originally set to take place on March 28, and that of Vocational Theory, scheduled on March 30, were wrongly distributed during the examination held on March 10.
Question papers collected back after an hour!
The wrong question papers were distributed on the day of the examination on March 10 at 9.30 am and it took the teachers another one hour to finally realize the goof up. The invigilators were shocked when students started raising doubts over the papers. They immediately alerted the school Principal, also the Chief Exam Superintendent, who, along with the Deputy Exam Superintendent collected back the wrong papers and distributed the subject question paper of the day.
New teachers assigned the exam duty
When the incident got revealed through students, the VHSE Kollam Regional Assistant Director reached the school on March 13. As the principal was not there at that time, the official locked the almirah and the room where the question paper bundles were kept and went back.
The next day, the Exam Secretary too came to the school along with the Assistant Director and sought an explanation from the principal. Both the Principal and the Deputy Superintendent were relieved of the exam duties thereafter and new teachers from Kollam and Anchal were assigned the responsibility.
Bizarre explanation
The Principal told the officials the fault occurred after the question paper bundles were opened without checking the date. There was only a minor difference between the question papers, and that of the first and second-year subjects. When the papers were opened after checking only the subject, the date couldn’t be corroborated, the Principal said.
Normally, question paper bundles are opened by the Chief Superintendent and the Deputy Superintendent together. However, in this case, only the Chief Superintendent has signed over the cover of the bundles.
Goof up not informed
The rule is that if a wrong question paper bundle is opened, then the matter should be immediately informed to the VHSE Assistant Director. However, here the same was not done. Experts in the field pointed out that the matter should have been duly conveyed to the higher officials, considering the seriousness incident.