Ranchi, Feb 20 (IANS) The Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) admitted that the Class 10 science board exam paper was leaked before the examination held on Thursday morning.
JAC President Natwa Hansda announced that the exam will be cancelled now in the entire state.
Following the leak, state Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari convened a high-level meeting on Thursday afternoon. The government has ordered a thorough investigation into the matter.
Reports suggest that the science question paper had been circulating widely on Wednesday and was available for sale. Student leader Devendra Nath Mahato met JAC officials on Wednesday with a copy of the leaked paper.
When the exam began at 9.45 a.m. on Thursday, the questions matched exactly with the leaked version. The matter was immediately reported to the state government, prompting swift administrative action to cancel the paper.
Hansda stated that a high-level committee would be formed to probe the leak.
This is not the first time that a paper has been leaked in Jharkhand before the examination. Earlier, there were strong rumours about the Hindi exam paper being leaked.
Mahato had also submitted a memorandum regarding this to the JAC Secretary.
At that time, the council dismissed the claims, issuing a general notice urging students to ignore rumours. The notice emphasised JAC’s commitment to conducting fair and confidential examinations and warned against anti-social elements spreading misinformation to exploit students and parents financially.
The Class 10 board exams in Jharkhand commenced on February 11, with 1,297 examination centres set up across the state for 4,33,890 students.
Earlier the examination was to end on March 3, but according to the changed schedule, the exams will be conducted till March 4. However, now due to the cancellation of the Science exam paper, it will be further extended.
–IANS
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