Thiruvananthapuram: There may be more to the SSLC and Higher Secondary examinations in Kerala than meets the eye.
Many of the teachers who are entrusted with the duty of preparing the secretive questions for the public exams are hands in glove with a shady network that sells ‘model’ question papers to tuition centers and parallel colleges in the state.
In short, these teachers get paid by the agents to prepare model question papers and they make sure that these questions are more than a pointer to the real ones to follow.
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Almost all major tuition centers and parallel colleges in the state conduct mid-term exams in July and November and ahead of the Onam and Christmas vacations. They are followed by unit exams in January and a pre-model exam later in the year. They pay a handsome price to get these question papers from private agencies. Even unaided schools rely on these agencies because of the uncanny resemblance of the question papers they offer to the real ones to follow. This is a business worth lakhs of rupees.
The tuition centers and parallel colleges do not mind the high price tag because this is a crucial aspect of their business model. They would see an influx of student admissions next year if their question papers mirror those for the board exams. These institutions charge a bomb for conducting the examinations.
Shockingly, some of the government and government-aided schools also choose this short cut. They buy the question papers to conduct mid-term and pre-model tests for the students preparing for the public exams. The government prepares only question papers for the Onam, Christmas and annual exams. The government also supplies the question papers for the model exam ahead of the SSLC exam but the Higher Secondary teachers have to buy model question papers from outside agencies.
These question papers are prepared by the same teachers who are picked to frame questions for the real exams.
The modus operandi
The question paper mafia has stretched its tentacles to the top tier of education administration. The agencies have enough connections in the Pareeksha Bhawan, SCERT, Office of the Director of Public Instruction and the Directorate of Higher Secondary Education to lay their hands on the list of teachers cherry-picked to prepare exams for the board exams.
They pursue the teachers with handsome offers. Most of the teachers fall for it with a little persuasion. The same teacher may end up preparing question papers for multiple agencies. They ensure that the model tests closely resemble later board exams. After all, the agency has a reputation to keep. Their question papers will sell like hot cakes next year if they get a decent strike rate this year.
The job of these cantankerous businessmen is made easier by the permanence of the panels entrusted by the Education Department to prepare school text books, SCERT’s question pool, study material for the district panchayats and the preparatory material brought out by the Directorate of Public Instruction. The same persons are put on the job year after year, even long after they have retired. Many of them moonlight for the model question paper suppliers or help friends doing the private work.
Higher secondary schools have been using question papers prepared by teachers’ associations for model exams. The associations go ahead with the business despite allegations of foul play. In most of the instances, the same person may be framing the questions for the teachers’ association and private agencies.
This shady business is sure to go on as long as teachers’ associations are not prevented from getting into it.