Heads Roll Amid Viral Audio On ‘Malpractice Deal’ During Class X Exam In Odisha

Puri: Three centre superintendents and invigilators of Haripur Adarsha High School were removed on Monday after an audio of alleged malpractice during the annual HSC and SOS examinations went viral on March 11.

District Education Officer (DEO), Puri, Biswajit Ghose also removed centre superintendents of Kakatpur and Nayahata Girls high schools for negligence in discharging their duties and suspended Kakatpur Girls High School clerk for using mobile phones during the exams.

The widely circulated audio clip purportedly featured a deal between a teacher and guardian to allow matriculation students to indulge in malpractice at the examination centre at Nimapada in Puri district.  “A lady teacher of Brahamgiri block was suspended on the first day of the examination for irregularities. After Haripur incident came to the fore, all the teachers of the Adarsha High School have been barred from entering the school premises till the completion of the examination,” said Ghosh.

It was alleged that teachers at the centre, which ironically falls under the constituency of School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash, were assisting students in exchange for a huge amount of money from the guardians.

The summative assessment-II examination started on March 10. More than five lakh students are appearing for the examinations at 3218 examination centres, which are under CCTV surveillance, across Odisha. The Board of Secondary Education has also formed 74 squads including 36 board officials apart from observers and nodal officers for supervision to check malpractice during the examinations.