The digital anti-leak move of CBSE finds few takers in North East

GUWAHATI, Oct 12: The latest move by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to digitally encrypt question papers for Class X and XII final examinations as a shield against leaks, has aroused scepticism among schools in the North East.

Under the plan, the encrypted question papers will be emailed to the principals of the schools that have been selected as exam centres, along with the password to open them. The codified email will be downloaded just before the exam and the question paper printed, photocopied and circulated among the examinees.

But several schools in the North Eastern States are sceptical about the move, given the vagaries of the Internet and power connectivity at many schools that will function as exam centres at rural and interior areas.

“If the CBSE goes ahead with its plan, all examination centres need to have computers, Internet connectivity, printers, Xerox machines, electricity and manpower. But there are many schools in Assam and other NE States which do not have such facility,” a teacher of CBSE school in Tezpur said.

The Principal of a leading English medium school said even in Guwahati many schools do not have computers, Internet connectivity, printers and Xerox machines. He said the CBSE has to be very practical while implementing the project.

“Use of encrypted question papers will involve a great risk because of the poor infrastructure at many schools. During the pilot project conducted by the CBSE, many schools did not receive the encrypted question papers on time,” the teacher said.

Over 20,000 schools are affiliated to the CBSE, of which nearly 4,500 function as exam centres for the Class X and Class XII boards. Nearly 30 lakh students take the board examinations every year.

CBSE secretary Anurag Tripathi recently said the board will choose those schools that have nearly all the required infrastructure. The CBSE will provide support to the schools that need help, he said.