Thiruvananthapuram: It’s not only the students who get caught cheating during the ongoing Higher Secondary examinations, but the teachers who report such acts, too, have to face the music. Both the students who get caught in the act and the invigilators who report the same are being summoned to the Directorate of Higher Secondary Education in Thiruvananthapuram as part of the probe into exam malpractices.
The strange practice means that even the students and teachers from far-way northern districts have to travel all the way to the state capital in connection with the irregularities caught by the exam squads.
Complaints have started pouring in from many quarters against the practice that inconvenience both the students and the teachers.
Such “harassment” by the authorities is absent in the case of SSLC (State Secondary Leaving Certificate) examinations held by the General Education department itself, several teachers pointed out.
The other day, the Secretary (Examinations) served a notice asking the student who got caught copying, the invigilator, the Chief in charge of examinations at the exam centre, and the Deputy Chief to be present at the headquarters. This is even as the authorities have failed to set up a district-level system to hear the explanations.
The teachers are unnecessarily made scapegoats for irregularities on the part of students at a time when an order of the Child Rights Commission bars physical examination of students at exam halls.
Official justification
However, Dr S S Vivekanandan, Secretary, Board of Higher Secondary Examinations, justifies the method. “Such a system was there earlier itself. This time around, we’ve implemented it widely,” he said.
The exam cheating cases reported in earlier years were fewer. However, this time, more cases have been reported after the squads were strengthened, the official pointed out.
A directive to summon them directly has been made with a goal to complete the inquiry well in advance of the result announcement, and to take a decision with respect to their cases ahead of SAY (Save-a-Year) examinations, he reasoned.