No let-up in question leak

SSC question paper for maths was leaked yesterday, like it was done in the case of Islamic studies, English and Bangla tests.

Ministers had accused “dishonest teachers” of taking photos of question papers and leaking them but yesterday the SSC Mathematic questions were leaked at a time when the scripts do not reach the exam centres.

Images of handwritten questions circulating social media sites and messenger groups made it clear that there were other actors involved.

Yesterday's Secondary School Certificate Mathematics questions were found in a Facebook messenger group at 5:56am, hours before the questions reach the centres.  

By 8:32am, solved problems in the “Kha” set question paper -- including MCQ and broad questions -- were circulating in the internet.

After yesterday's exam, this correspondent compared the questions of the test with the screenshots of the leaked ones and even the handwritten one.

They were identical.

Although the law enforcers detained some people in connection with the recent question leaks, they could not track down the main players. The leaks continued and all questions of this year's SSC exams held so far had been leaked.

“I got the MCQ part around 9:00am on my mobile phone along with the answers ... I hope I will get 30 out of 30,” an SSC examinee told this correspondent at an exam centre near Farmgate after the test.

Another examinee wishing not to be named said students matched their answers according to the questions, huddling together near the exam centre in the morning.

Several students told this correspondent that some examinees entered the centres even after 9:30am, the deadline for entering the halls.

Some leakers posted on a Facebook group yesterday that they would leak the Information and Communication Technology questions hours before the exam scheduled for 10:00am today.

It appears they are in a competition among themselves to leak questions first. Many examinees now check Facebook rather than his or her textbooks before entering exam halls.

Amid widespread allegations and anger over the continued question paper leak, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on February 4 declared a Tk 5 lakh bounty for catching those involved in question paper leaks. The ministry also formed an 11-member committee to probe the alleged leaks.

In December, he had alleged that some teachers were involved.

State Minister for Technical and Madrasa Education Kazi Keramat Ali on Friday claimed that the question papers of the ongoing SSC exam this year had not been leaked.

“There are around 4,000 exam centres in the country. Some dishonest teachers take pictures of them just before the exam starts and upload them on Facebook to embarrass the government.

“The papers which were leaked, we checked it. But those were not found to be identical to the actual ones,” the state minister claimed at a programme in Rajbari.

Even though he claimed that there were no leaks, law enforcers were arresting people in possession of leaked questions.

Detectives claimed to have arrested 14 people at Dhaka and Sherpur yesterday in connection with the leaks, said Md Shahjahan, additional deputy commissioner of DB (North Division).

Of them, Dhaka University student Fahim and an SSC examinee were detained in front of Government Laboratory High School around 9:00am.

DB sources claimed that Fahim's Facebook account had leaked question papers.

Shahjahan said details of the other arrestees would be revealed today at a press briefing.

In Rajshahi, police detained Rabia Islam Ria, 21, a first-year honours student of Mathematics at Rajshahi Government City College, in possession of leaked math questions, said Amir Jafar, deputy commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police.

In Gazipur, police detained headmaster Amzad Hossain, assistant secretary of Mauna Bohumukhi High School exam centre in Sreepur upazila, when he was taking a question papers out of the exam centre around 11:00am.

At least 30 people, including teachers and examinees' relatives, have been detained or arrested so far in connection with the leaks at different parts of the country.

Talking to The Daily Star, some guardians expressed their frustration over the authorities' failure to stop the leaks.

“This is a failure of the government, not just the education ministry's. Though our law enforcement agencies claimed success in combating other crimes, they failed to tackle question leaks,” a guardian said.