Christmas exam paper leak: Kerala Education Minister assures strict action against culprits

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on Saturday warned of stringent action against those behind the leak of question papers for SSLC and class 11 Christmas examinations.

“The Director General of Education will lodge a complaint with the DGP regarding the incident,” he told reporters here.

According to recent media reports, the question papers of Class 10 English and Class 11 Mathematics for the Christmas examinations were leaked and circulated on YouTube channels before the exams.

He also said action would be initiated against YouTube channels that published the leaked question papers.

"The government will collect information about teachers from the Public Education Department who are associated with private tuition centers, and they will be subjected to an investigation," the Minister stated.

Criticising the YouTube channels that published the leaked question papers, he said such actions only bring them "notorious fame." "Although the current exams are not pivotal to students' future, it is crucial to uphold the credibility of the examination system," he added.

The Minister reiterated that teachers are already prohibited from engaging in private tuition, and strict action has been taken against those violating the department's directives.

"We will release the figures of those soon," he added.

A release issued by the General Education Department on Saturday said the Director of General Education will soon lodge a complaint with the State DGP and Cyber Cell regarding the leak of plus one question papers for the Christmas examination and its appearance on a YouTube channel.

Strict security measures are in place across all stages, including the preparation and distribution of question papers.

Describing the incident as a "very serious matter", the release said the culprits would be identified and brought before law.

The Department of Public Education added that no compromises would be tolerated in ensuring the integrity of school examinations.

It also noted that the question papers for the Plus One and Two Christmas Model Exams would be prepared during the SCERT workshop.

Two sets of question papers are prepared, with one selected and printed at a confidential press outside the state, which delivers them directly to 14 district centres.

School principals then collect the question papers from these centres.

For classes 8, 9, and 10, the question papers are prepared by various District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET). One set is chosen and sent to the press through Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK), after which the printed papers are distributed to Block Resource Centers (BRC) and subsequently to the schools, it added.

The release further said public examinations are conducted under stricter security measures.