Students checking answer scripts of final semester students
En masse cheating in exams we have heard of, but a university in Bhopal has outdone that. If some viral videos are to be believed, not teachers but students are apparently checking answer sheets. There is worse and the university has had to order a probe.
In a viral video from a college at Sagar, two students were seen evaluating answer sheets of BA Hindi literature exam. Doubly astounding, the examiners, as it were, are from first year and they are checking answer sheets of final semester students.
Embarrassed, Bhopal's Barkatullah University has ordered a probe. Vice chancellor DC Gupta has said, "We have constituted three member enquiry committee, this committee will check all the process followed by Sanjeev Dubey and how he has given the copies to Dr Dhaniram Ahirwar and how he given the copies to the students for valuation."
The two named teachers have been elusive ever since the video emerged. Sanjeev Dubey is a full-time teacher at the Arts and Commerce College at Sagar where the video was reportedly shot and Dhaniram Ahirwar a guest lecturer.
As Barkatullah University's exam coordinator, Mr Dubey was responsible for distributing answer sheets for evaluation to selected teachers. Teachers, not students. Mr Dubey was also coordinator for evaluation of answer sheets for universities in Rewa, Jabalpur, Indore and Ujjain. It was his duty to select and distribute answer sheets. The universities in Madhya Pradesh used to pay him Rs 3 for each answer sheet and Rs 15 to the faculty evaluating the answer sheets.
The student teacher ratio at Barkatullah Univeraity and 478 colleges affiliated to it is low, say students, which is why is the Sagar scam and it is not an one-off.
Students like Anirruddh and Satyendra from Mechanical engineering department suspect of massive irregularities in the evaluation of their answer-sheets. Both of them scored fairly in other subjects except Chemistry. Anirrudh said, "I should have got more then 40 marks easily, I suspect my answer sheets were not checked properly."
Satyendra, while echoing the voice of his friend, added, "I have got good marks in all other subjects except Chemistry. They are not checking our copies properly and no body is responding either."
Congress' National Students Union Of India (NSUI) has protested against the irregularity. The BJP is saying, its a serious matter and the guilty won't be spared. "This is a serious matter and the government will investigate properly. This is not about BJP, NSUI, we are sensitive towards improving the quality of education," said BJP spokesperson Rahul Kothari.
The probe panel report is expected in a week. Barkatullah University's 2.5 lakh students are waiting to see who is guilty as this was the fourth such scam reported in the last two years. Incidentally Barkatullah University was home to the bachelor of dental surgery exam scam, where answer sheets were evaluated inside a hostel on the campus.
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