The government has changed the job location of at least 25 teachers of five government schools in the capital as punishment for not following its order regarding closure of the country’s ubiquitous coaching centres. They have been transferred to institutions in different districts. Some days back, prior to holding of the SSC exam, the education ministry circulated an order that all coaching centres in the country must be closed down until all the SSC exams come to an end.

This order the ministry served in order to stop leak of question papers of the ongoing SSC exams. Before criticizing the government step, it might reasonably be pointed out that question paper leaks occur when someone among those who are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of the papers breaches his or her trust in the first place. At four different levels this dishonesty can occur: firstly by the people who finalise the question papers themselves; secondly by the people at the printing level; thirdly by those who are involved in distributing and reaching question papers to the exam centres; and finally by teachers who keep the question papers with them until they are served to students on the exam day.

Questions, however, get leaked right from the exam hall also. Though we are dead against running of coaching centres and are repeatedly calling for effective study in the classrooms, we have to say that people running the coaching centres are not likely to be connected to the disclosure of papers. However, if someone of a coaching centre is involved in connection with the four stages from question making to the point of distribution of papers among the students, only then s/he can be linked to a leaking event.

There is another reality that coaching centres compete with each other for keeping or increasing their reputation, and it is assumed that in an effort to do so they seek questions and prepare their students before the exam accordingly. But this is only an assumption and any guardian or student for that matter may want to get questions before the exam, if s/he does not believe in the fair competition of an exam.

So we think the step to stop the coaching centres during the exam for checking leak is not a bright idea and if this year papers are indeed leaked, it would take place either at any of the four stages mentioned. Therefore, the hole must be plugged in these places. If the question papers are not leaked this year, it will also be not for stopping the coaching centres, but for the integrity of people at the four stages.