Question leaks: Minister’s resignation is no solution, says Prof Zafar Iqbal

Prof Muhammad Zafar Iqbal said the education minister’s resignation will not plug the leaks of questions in public exams.

His remarks came on Tuesday amid calls for Minister Nurul Islam Nahid’s resignation for failing to stop it.

Emphasising efforts to pin down how the questions are leaked, Prof Iqbal told the media in Sylhet, “The education ministry’s resignation is not the solution.”

Following leaks of question papers of eighth and fifth graders last year, questions of the school-leaving SSC and equivalent exams have appeared on the social media, especially Facebook, ahead of the tests.

Amid a wave of criticism, the government decided to block the internet during the tests, only to reverse the plan hours later.

“Education will mean nothing in this country, if question leaks continue. It’s imperative for the government to stop it,” said Prof Iqbal, who has been vocal against it for the last few years.

In 2014, the popular fiction writer and Shahjalal University Computer Science teacher staged a sit-in against the leaks of question papers in the then ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate or HSC exams.

“The administration had not admitted then that the questions leaked. Now they admit, but are not taking any effective measure,” he told reporters on Monday.

Advising the government not to go for steps like a clampdown on the internet, Iqbal said: “It’s time to act fast on how it can be stopped and bring the guilty to justice.”

On Monday, the government said they will dump multiple-choice questions or MCQ from public exams to tackle the issue.

 "We will gradually remove the MCQ section, so there will be no scope for leaks," State Minister for Education Kazi Keramat Ali told the parliament.