Question paper leakage: Stop the stalking ghost

What is more frightening is the fact that leakage venom didn’t remain confined within board examinations questions. Rather, toxin of leaking quickly spread everywhere. The situation went bad to worse day by day.

Question paper leakage horror has struck the headlines again but this time leaves an alarming message about the presence of a deep going malignant cell still working invisibly in the screening and recruiting machinery designed to pick running manpower of the state. The only recent incident of question paper leakage of the auditor recruitment test arranged under the supervision of Defense Auditor General Office is a solid proof that leaking ghost is still stalking in the testing and screening alleys of examinations.

The arrest of the public representative Mahbuba Nasreen, Vice Chairman of Dupchanchia Upazilla Parishad of Bogura district, on the spot while she was allegedly supplying leaked-out questions to her contract clients has given rise to a new discussion of an old vexed issue with a renewed concern. She was reportedly involved in the racket of auditor recruitment test for earning a huge sum of money. Her track record speaks clearly about her long association with money-related scandals since her college life.

In Bangladesh, involvement of public representatives in corruption and graft incidents is not a new phenomenon. But it is an extremely shocking experience for the nation since the arrestee herself is an incumbent medium profile public representative who has been caught red-handed while working in the leaking process in person. Though one public representative has been nabbed on the spot, this incident has paved the way of widespread speculation that there may have been more other representatives who are actively involved in the question paper leakage syndicate. May be, they are working stealthily in collusion with unscrupulous officials and employees and leaking out questions of different professional examinations in exchange for money. We should not make any gross comment on a case under investigation. However, we are actually shell-shocked thinking that screening processes for working manpower of the nation are not above suspicion.

We have a scandalous question paper leakage history which began with the SSC question paper leakage incident back in 1979. Immediately, strict vigilance was enforced and the then generating process was tightened to the limit. As a result, leakage pores were sealed forthwith. Next two decades went on smoothly without any trustworthy report and rumour relating to the leaking incident question paper. Then again in 2014, we saw the beginning of the worst ever leaking era which rapidly turned into an alarming trend of leakage of public examinations’ question papers. Over the three consecutive years, leakage of public examinations’ question papers turned into a practice. We had not only seen the hand-written sheets and photocopies of board questions in the hands of the people but also seen leaked copies emerged in the social media like Facebook and YouTube. What is more frightening is the fact that leakage venom didn’t remain confined within board examinations questions. Rather, toxin of leaking quickly spread everywhere. The situation went bad to worse day by day. In 2015, allegations were rife regarding the leakage of medical and dental admission tests. Again in 2017, question papers of D-Unit of Dhaka University admission test were leaked out. In a word, from 2014 to 2017 under the Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, it was a bonanza of question paper leakage.

From 2018 a fresh and clean era of zero-leakage began under the incumbent Education Minister Dipu Moni. In the true sense of the term, last three years virtually had not seen any leakage incident as far as public examinations’ question papers are concerned. It is just not the case in respect of public as well as academic exams. In professional and competitive exams as well there was hardly any tangible deviation ever during the last three years. But recent leakage incident and Mahbuba Nasreen’s episode  has undoubtedly brought back to our mind the fear of the rampaging giant that went berserk and ransacked an established system and format concerning the secrecy and security of question papers. But we can hardly afford to jeopardize the enviable success that we have achieved in establishing order and discipline in the midst of total chaos and anarchy in the task of question papers’ preparation. We always have to remember that if education is the backbone of a nation then secrecy of all sort of question papers serves the lifeline of respiration of a healthy nation.

In all considerations, it is greed and specifically speaking the greed of turning millionaire overnight without hardship and pains seduce people to get stuck up to question paper leakage. The involvement of very dignified and high profile people like university teachers, civil servants and the public representatives in the nefarious question paper leakage speaks well enough that anybody can succumb to irresistible greed at any moment. Greed is an inherent human propensity and it plays havoc only when it gets a favorable hatching environment.

Absence of adequate legal provisions as well as loose and lax enforcement of existing law has to be taken into immediate cognizance and addressed with utmost urgency. The existing preventive law against leakage spells out punishment that ranges from 3 to 10 years of imprisonment. In most cases, accused persons can easily manage bail and the cases drag on over the years. Above everything else, dilly-dallying practice in delivering and executing punishment has to be ensured at any cost in this super sensitive case of rampant intellectual abuse. Punishment for question paper leakage has to be made severer and stricter which may be even rigorous life imprisonment with monetary penalty. Prevention is better than cure and it is high time we dealt a crushing blow to those involved in the leakage syndicate.

The writer is former Associate Professor of English, Bogura Cantonment Public School & College.

 

 

Question paper leakage: Stop the stalking ghost

What is more frightening is the fact that leakage venom didnt remain confined within board examinations questions. Rather, toxin of leaking quickly spread everywhere. The situation went bad to worse day by day.

Question paper leakage horror has struck the headlines again but this time leaves an alarming message about the presence of a deep going malignant cell still working invisibly in the screening and recruiting machinery designed to pick running manpower of the state. The only recent incident of question paper leakage of the auditor recruitment test arranged under the supervision of Defense Auditor General Office is a solid proof that leaking ghost is still stalking in the testing and screening alleys of examinations. The arrest of the public representative Mahbuba Nasreen, Vice Chairman of Dupchanchia Upazilla Parishad of Bogura district, on the spot while she was allegedly supplying leaked-out questions to her contract clients has given rise to a new discussion of an old vexed issue with a renewed concern. She was reportedly involved in the racket of auditor recruitment test for earning a huge sum of money. Her track record speaks clearly about her long association with money-related scandals since her college life. In Bangladesh, involvement of public representatives in corruption and graft incidents is not a new phenomenon. But it is an extremely shocking experience for the nation since the arrestee herself is an incumbent medium profile public representative who has been caught red-handed while working in the leaking process in person. Though one public representative has been nabbed on the spot, this incident has paved the way of widespread speculation that there may have been more other representatives who are actively involved in the question paper leakage syndicate. May be, they are working stealthily in collusion with unscrupulous officials and employees and leaking out questions of different professional examinations in exchange for money. We should not make any gross comment on a case under investigation. However, we are actually shell-shocked thinking that screening processes for working manpower of the nation are not above suspicion. We have a scandalous question paper leakage history which began with the SSC question paper leakage incident back in 1979. Immediately, strict vigilance was enforced and the then generating process was tightened to the limit. As a result, leakage pores were sealed forthwith. Next two decades went on smoothly without any trustworthy report and rumour relating to the leaking incident question paper. Then again in 2014, we saw the beginning of the worst ever leaking era which rapidly turned into an alarming trend of leakage of public examinations question papers. Over the three consecutive years, leakage of public examinations question papers turned into a practice. We had not only seen the hand-written sheets and photocopies of board questions in the hands of the people but also seen leaked copies emerged in the social media like Facebook and YouTube. What is more frightening is the fact that leakage venom didnt remain confined within board examinations questions. Rather, toxin of leaking quickly spread everywhere. The situation went bad to worse day by day. In 2015, allegations were rife regarding the leakage of medical and dental admission tests. Again in 2017, question papers of D-Unit of Dhaka University admission test were leaked out. In a word, from 2014 to 2017 under the Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, it was a bonanza of question paper leakage. From 2018 a fresh and clean era of zero-leakage began under the incumbent Education Minister Dipu Moni. In the true sense of the term, last three years virtually had not seen any leakage incident as far as public examinations question papers are concerned. It is just not the case in respect of public as well as academic exams. In professional and competitive exams as well there was hardly any tangible deviation ever during the last three years. But recent leakage incident and Mahbuba Nasreens episode has undoubtedly brought back to our mind the fear of the rampaging giant that went berserk and ransacked an established system and format concerning the secrecy and security of question papers. But we can hardly afford to jeopardize the enviable success that we have achieved in establishing order and discipline in the midst of total chaos and anarchy in the task of question papers preparation. We always have to remember that if education is the backbone of a nation then secrecy of all sort of question papers serves the lifeline of respiration of a healthy nation. In all considerations, it is greed and specifically speaking the greed of turning millionaire overnight without hardship and pains seduce people to get stuck up to question paper leakage. The involvement of very dignified and high profile people like university teachers, civil servants and the public representatives in the nefarious question paper leakage speaks well enough that anybody can succumb to irresistible greed at any moment. Greed is an inherent human propensity and it plays havoc only when it gets a favorable hatching environment. Absence of adequate legal provisions as well as loose and lax enforcement of existing law has to be taken into immediate cognizance and addressed with utmost urgency. The existing preventive law against leakage spells out punishment that ranges from 3 to 10 years of imprisonment. In most cases, accused persons can easily manage bail and the cases drag on over the years. Above everything else, dilly-dallying practice in delivering and executing punishment has to be ensured at any cost in this super sensitive case of rampant intellectual abuse. Punishment for question paper leakage has to be made severer and stricter which may be even rigorous life imprisonment with monetary penalty. Prevention is better than cure and it is high time we dealt a crushing blow to those involved in the leakage syndicate. The writer is former Associate Professor of English, Bogura Cantonment Public School College.