SSC ICT exam questions leak before mobile internet shutdown

Questions for the SSC ICT exam leaked on Facebook and Messenger groups prior to the BRTC ordered shutdown of mobile internet before the exam on Sunday.

A social media group named ‘helping hand’ leaked the multiple choice questions and answers in the ‘Ga’ set at 8:59am, an hour prior to the start of the ICT exam.

Within half an hour, photos of the questions and answers were circulating on various groups and pages. The posts that went viral matched exactly with the questions on the exam.

“Many people, like you, are trying to help us with information,” Dhaka Board Exam Controller Tapan Kumar Sarkar told bdnews24.com.

“We pay attention to every report. Today we were a bit late in shutting down the internet. There is a meeting at the ministry today. We will learn what steps will be taken for the coming exams.”

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid had said prior to the start of the SSC exams the government was considering shutting down Facebook for certain periods on exam days to reduce question leaks. He later said steps would be taken ‘according to the situation’.

The BTRC had requested all mobile operators to shut down mobile internet services from9am to 10am on Sunday morning, but it took until 9:30pm to shut down the internet on Sunday.

Mobile internet service resumed at 10am, an official with the mobile phone operators toldbdnews24.com.

BTRC officials do not know whether the internet shutdown will be repeated on other exam days.

Numerous groups and accounts on social media have been leaking questions since the first exam. The names of the groups and proof of the question leaks have been regularly submitted to the Dhaka Board authority by bdnews24.com. But no visible steps have been taken against these groups.

Questions for the first four exams leaked on Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp between half an hour and an hour before the exam, but the Islam and Moral Education exam questions went viral between one and one-and-a-half hours before the exam.

Pages and groups are competing to see who can leak questions from the exams fastest. Several accounts and groups claim to release the questions earlier than the others and advertise the leaks. Thus far the education ministry has been unable to stop the leaks.

“We are working on it,” Tapan Sarkar said when asked about the leaks. “The Detective Branch and BTRC are taking steps. We are all trying.”