SSC and NEET aspirants protest over CBSE class 10, 12 board papers leak

Aspirants of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) on Saturday protested at Parliament Street in New Delhi over leak of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) class 10 and class 12 board examination papers. A group of students also protested at CBSE board office at Preet Vihar in the national capital. Notably, the CBSE had announced on its official website cbse.nic.in recently that class 10 Mathematics and class 12 Economics examinations would be conducted again.

According to Delhi Police, the students also made attempts to block the road in front of the CBSE office. “But we kept them away. A group of about 25-30 students are protesting outside the CBSE office," said a senior Delhi Police officer.

This comes even as Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar confirmed that of the 16 lakh students who appeared for class 10 Mathematics examination, less than 2 lakh students might have to appear for the re-examination.

Taking to Twitter, Javadekar clarified that even in Delhi and Haryana, where the police investigation into the paper leak is underway, the retest will be held only if a large-scale leak is discovered during the probe.

Javadekar also targeted news channels, blaming them for the confusion over the re-examination of class 10 Mathematics and class 12 Economics paper. Besides, he mentioned names of all states and union territories where class 10 students will not be made to take the test again.

The statement by the HRD minister came after Education Secretary Anil Swarup announced that class 12 Economics papers re-examination will be held on April 25. Swarup said the investigation into the leak of the Class 10 Mathematics examination paper is still underway, and indicated that the paper may only have been circulated in Delhi and Haryana.

He said the decision on whether to hold a re-exam of Class 10 Mathematics in Delhi and Haryana would be made within the next 15 days, based on the information that the investigation finds.