12 Sept news

Paper leak  omplaints flood PSEB office 
Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 12
The Punjab School Education Board office was today flooded with complaints that papers of the online examination, scheduled to be held for Class VI to Class X from tomorrow, were leaked. Officials termed these complaints as rumours.

Students of these classes are to be evaluated through papers that will be sent online for subjects of mathematics, science, Punjabi, Hindi, English and social sciences.

A senior official requesting anonymity said, “We have heard that fake papers are being sold for Rs 500 in the state. This can’t be possible because we have not sent any papers yet. Only evaluation tools have been forwarded to schools.”

The officer said, “These exams do not carry pass or fail grades and are a part of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) exercise.“

A senior schoolteacher said, “Instead of rubbishing reports of paper leaks, the department should look into the issue. There are other issues too. Since computers at many schools are not working, papers could not be downloaded. Moreover, several schools did not have printers.”

Instead of rubbishing reports of paper leaks, the department should look into the issue. There are other issues too. Since computers at many schools are not working, papers could not be downloaded.
— A schoolteacherPSEB schools in a quandary 
 Say downloading question papers not an easy task
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 12
Already overburdened teachers are finding it difficult to download question papers from the Internet.

In its bid to raise standards of learning, the education department had decided to send the question papers of Summative Assessment-1 to PSEB-affiliated schools. The department had asked the schools to download the papers on September 12 and get these photocopied.

Following the orders, the government and private schools in the district downloaded the papers from the Internet and it was learnt that the department was able to save Rs 20 lakh this way.

But the task is not as easy as it seems. The Summative Assessment-I exams for classes VI to X are commencing tomorrow.

A principal of a government school said an English question paper ran into three pages which meant if there were 40 students in a class, the staff would have to get 120 pages photocopied.

"We will end up wasting funds on getting the papers photocopied," asked the principal, adding that if they were to set the papers, they would have used just one page.

"High schools have adequate funds, but middle schools cannot afford to spend all the money on photocopies," said a teacher of middle school.

The teachers said there were chances of papers getting leaked this way.

Every school has been given a code number and the number can be accessed by staff or senior teachers.

"Anyone can procure the question papers. Earlier, we used to set the question papers. Burdening teachers just to save money is unfair," said a teacher at a Government school, Jawahar Nagar Camp.

Edu dept reverses its decision on digitised question papers 
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, September 12
Days after a move of the Education Department to use the digitised form of question papers in the half-yearly summative assessment (SA) exams in government schools in the state came in for criticism for its impracticality, the Director General School Education (DGSE), Punjab, has issued a corrigendum admitting that the new method to bring transparency and prevent leakage of paper would create problem in conducting the exam.

In a letter (No. SSA/SS/2013/14842-14845) issued to all district education officers (DEOs) and the heads of all government schools in the state on Wednesday evening, the DGSE wrote that as there were complaints from schools that they would face problems in conducting the exam as per the new formula, it was decided that all schools will get the question papers two days before the start of the half-yearly exam.

The exams for classes IV to X will start on September 13.

Adopting a new policy this time, the Education Department had last week decided to send question papers from its head office to the schools across the state in a secure manner (via e-mail) an hour before the start of exams. To ensure that there is no leakage of question papers, the school head was to take a print of the e-mailed question paper, get its photocopies made and distribute them among examinees.

But as it was not practical for schools in rural areas to get the print and photocopies of the e-mailed question paper within an hour due to erratic power supply, so the department reversed its decision.

Under the revised policy, the questions papers of all six subjects (English, Punjabi, Hindi, social studies, mathematics and science) were e-mailed to all schools today and the schools were asked to get them printed and photocopied in the next 24 hours for the examinations starting on September 13.

Anjali Bhawra, the DGSE, said the school heads would be responsible for any leakage of the question paper.

Another change is the exam timings. If earlier it was conveyed to all schools to conduct exams from 11 am to 2 pm, now they have been told to hold exams from 9 am to 12 noon. Most middle and primary schools had expressed helplessness in serving mid-day meal to students with 11 am to 2 pm as examination time. The exam timings were changed so that the students could take meals after taking test.