Tiktok (Photo Credit: FIle Image)
New Delhi:
Mobile phones were seized from five Madhyamik examinees on Wednesday, while one of them was detained in Malda district for allegedly making a TikTok video of the English question paper and sharing it on social media, officials said. A student appearing for the class 10 state boards exam in Baidyanathpur High School in Ratua police station area of Malda was handed over to police after he was found with a mobile phone.
It is alleged that soon after the exam began, the boy clicked three pages of the question paper while sitting inside the classroom, edited it on the TikTok app, added Bollywood music to the video and circulated it on social media, police said.
He will be produced before the district Juvenile Justice Board on Thursday, they said. District education department sources said that the accused’s examination has been cancelled and he has been expelled.
The purported video, which shows some multiple choice and essay-type questions, started making rounds within an hour of the beginning of the examinations at 12 pm. The incident created a furore among parents and examinees, who questioned the security of examination centres where neither students nor the teachers are being allowed to carry any electronic gadgets.
Officials said Superintendent of Police Alok Rajoria is himself leading a probe into the security lapse at the examination centre. Another student was found with a mobile phone in the Rajnagar High School of the district, while devices were also seized from three students appearing for the exam at Anglo Indian High School in North 24 Parganas district, a statement issued by the board said.
Taking strong exception to the incidents, the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) issued a notification saying that if any candidate is found with electronic gadgets inside the examination hall, he will not be allowed to appear for the remaining exams.
If any teaching or non-teaching staff is seen flouting the restrictions, he will be debarred from entering the venue and the disciplinary committee of the board on getting report from the competent authority will suspend him and initiate departmental proceedings, the notification said.
The authorities have also suspended internet services in some areas near schools spread over 42 blocks of the state, to prevent any malpractices. A top WBBSE source, however, said that a very few questions in the purported TikTok video matched with the original English question paper.
“The question paper in the video also did not carry the logo of the Board, which is embossed on the top,” the source said.
WBBSE president Kalyanmoy Ganguly will soon meet education minister Partha Chatterjee “to discuss attempts in some quarters to create confusion during the exams and discredit the board and the state government”, the source said.
On Tuesday, images of two pages of the Bengali question paper went viral shortly after the exam began in 2,839 centres across the state at 12 pm.
An estimated 10,15,888 candidates are appearing for the Madhyamik examinations this year and of them, 5,76,009 are girls.
Last year as well, purported images of Bengali, English, History, Geography and Mathematics question papers were shared on social media during the exams but both the board and education minister Partha Chatterjee rubbished those, saying there was no leak.
