VISAKHAPATNAM: Social media has become the epicentre of exam paper leaks in several recent instances in Andhra Pradesh. From illegal filtration and capturing of question papers on mobiles, miscreants are using instant messaging applications to their advantage to immediately share images with their targeted groups.
All recent paper leaks in Andhra Pradesh, including the circulation of English and Telugu papers in the ongoing class X exams, point to the side effects of technology. The growing ubiquity of internet use has only spurred the number of leaks over the years.
Examinations are conducted to evaluate learning outcomes, understanding and knowledge of the students. But the slew of paper leaks threaten the integrity of the examination system.
The seal of the exam paper bundles should be removed one hour to 30 minutes before the examination based on the regulations of the particular test. But the exam centres have turned ground zero for paper leaks as transportation and other logistics involve several men and stages.
Not limited to a single state, paper leaks have become a perennial problem across the country. The class X Hindi examination paper went viral on social media about a month ago in Gujarat.
The class X Telugu paper-I was allegedly circulated through WhatsApp from an examination centre in Anantapur district in 2017. The same year, the final year BSc mathematics paper of Andhra University was leaked on WhatsApp and the exam had to be rescheduled.
As the final exams could not be conducted in the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there were no instances of paper leaks. But they have been in the news again in the last few weeks as lakhs of students test their mettle in the high-stakes final exams.
The unlawful actions of a few miscreants forces lakhs of students to re-appear for the exams. This may make their months-long preparation redundant.
Besides imposing additional stress and burden on students, question paper leaks add to the financial burden of educational institutions or governments.
J Srinivas Patnayak, a faculty working with an IIT coaching institution in Visakhapatnam, remarked that the benefits outnumber the disadvantages that come with social media. “These days, students are even sharing study material on these social media groups. But unfortunately, social media has become a soft target for cheaters to leak question papers,” he added.
