Dhaka board holds SSC exam with leaked question paper despite being informed

The SSC examination of Information and Communication Technology under Dhaka board has been held with a question paper leaked on the previous night, though the controller of the examination was informed at least two hours before the start of the test.

The creative questions used in the test held from 10am on Monday matched exactly with the one obtained by a child journalist of bdnews24.com's Hello through WhatsApp Sunday night.

Tapan Kumar Sarkar, the exam controller at the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dhaka, was informed about the matter at 8am.

He said he was checking it, but the test went ahead with the leaked question paper.

After bdnews24.com had unearthed the leak of Dhaka board's SSC math test on Feb 12, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said actions would be taken after an investigation.

But, no tangible actions have been taken, and the leaks continued.

Question papers of Feb 14 Physical Education exams of Dhaka and Barisal boards and Physics of Dhaka board on Feb 16 were leaked.

After the first reactions, no official, including Nahid, is paying heed to the evidence of question leak.

The minister's unwillingness to cancel the tests held with leaked question papers is clear in his comments.

Tapan, who is also the head of the inter-board exam controlling subcommittee, had asked bdnews24.com after the Feb 16 leak to inform him before the exams.

"How can I take any step if you inform me after the leak? Please inform me beforehand," he said.

When informed about the leak two hours before the exam on Monday, he told bdnews24.com: "Many sell fake question papers. I am going to the office right now and checking what has happened."

He refused to see the screenshot of the WhatsApp message carrying the leaked question paper and did not provide his email address.

bdnews24.com tried to contact him again when the child correspondent of Hello received another set of the question paper on Facebook Messenger from an ID - 'Tasmiya Akther Jui' - at 8:45am.

Tapan did not take phone calls.

The multiple choice question (MCQ) section of the paper used in Dhaka and Barisal boards from 10am to 10:25am matched exactly with the one obtained through Facebook Messenger at 8:45am.

Tapan did not receive any call made from several numbers after the tests ended.

Dhaka board Chairman Mahbubur Rahman told bdnews24.com that he knew nothing about the matter.

"I am in the middle of training now. I will speak to the controller at the office," he said.

Mahbubur could not be reached afterwards.

Education Minister Nahid, too, did not take phone calls.

A guardian of an SSC candidate at Motijheel Ideal School and College expressed anger over the question leaks.

"Shall we consider that they want the leaks to continue unhindered? If yes, then they are responsible for breaking our children's backbone at the very outset," he said.