The credibility of CBSE lies in tatters. Close to three million boys and girls who took their Class 10 and 12 board examinations last month are still in a daze. About half a million students face the additional burden now of taking the Economics test for Class 12 again on April 25. They have to do this while also coping with preparation for common entrance tests to gain admission to courses that would define their careers and their lives. Cornered by the unprecedented leak of national question papers, the human resources development ministry has come up with the half-baked solution of a retest while still leaving Class 10 students in suspense over what is to be done with the leak of Maths paper, which is a test of abilities hugely crucial to what they will be doing with the rest of their lives. A systemic failure in handling common question papers for the whole nation has compounded the problem.
A beguiling aspect of the imbroglio is that officials of the CBSE have not been made accountable. There is no clear knowledge yet of the extent of the leaks, despite which several sweeping conclusions have been arrived at. To pinpoint a particular geography of the leaks would have to be ridiculous in this age of instant communications, which is why a total retest of Class 12 Economics paper seemed the only logical if painful, way out. The problem is the crucial Class 12 exams of 2018 will be highly suspect because there is no way to calculate the extent of the leak, which obviously flowed from the canker of corruption as there is no dearth of dishonest people in the country willing to play with the lives of millions of children for a few rupees.
It was not surprising that the issue of the leak was politicised at a time when protection of data is proving to be an extreme challenge, be it on Facebook from where Cambridge Analytica managed to lay its hands on a huge amount of information or in the behemoth identity system Aadhaar in the breaching of which a humongous population could be affected. To preserve the sanctity of life-defining national examinations for youth, the CBSE was expected to take the best of security measures. It has failed miserably in this. Criminals have long been focusing on education and tests to make money and high levels of sophistication are called for to keep the leakers out. If this is not addressed adequately, we fail our children. This is why more sustained tests of merit and aptitude are called for to replace the single common test on which so much is predicated. This is a challenge for the nation, but the system must be made safe first before viable alternatives are found.
