Jaipur: At a time when India is still reeling under the effects of NEET-UG exam irregularities, including paper leak, a daring incident of mass cheating came to light in a Rajasthan school.
A vigilance squad from Rajasthan Education Department, along with other state-level flying squad officials, caught teachers red-handed as they helped students cheat openly during a raid on a government middle school in Phalodi district.
Teachers at Bera Government School in Kolu Rathod village were found writing answers on the blackboard while dummy candidates were made to write on answer sheets.
The mass cheating was taking place in three rooms where Mathematics and Physics exams for classes X and XII were being conducted.
Nishi Jain, who headed the flying squad, said they raided the school after receiving information about organised cheating at the school.
“When we went to check, we found the gates of the school locked and were forced to jump over the walls. We found that teachers were organising mass-scale cheating, with answers written on blackboards for students to copy,” NDTV quoted Jain as saying.
Police have lodged an FIR.
“After entering we saw three people including the examination in-charge running away. My team members checked each classroom and found answers written on two blackboards. In another classroom we caught a man named Shivraj Meena, who was getting answers written on the board,” said Rajasthan State Open School secretary Aruna Rajoriya.
“In a seating arrangement meant for 35 students, only 25 were seated. Space was left vacant for 10 students, but their copies were kept there for cheating. In another classroom, there were 19 copies but only 10 students,” she added.
Evidence gathered by the flying squad also included discovery of monetary transactions.
“We found substantial amounts of cash in possession of students. One student had Rs 2,100 on him, while another confessed to offering Rs 2,000 to teachers for unfair assistance,” Jain said.
Six third-grade teachers and one librarian have been suspended.
Disciplinary action is likely to be taken against the principal and the observer who was absent.
