Question paper of 50 marks instead of 70; Principals put the ball on University’s Controller of Examination; he says “Don’t malign”

On April 27, the TDC students of B. Com CBCS Honors Fifth Semester sat for their examination. It was the Banking and Insurance paper and according to the syllabus, the test was supposed to be of 70 marks. To their dismay, as soon as they opened the question paper it happened to be of 50 marks only. The students took their test but were vocal about the confusion the question paper induced. As per reports, in some colleges, some students even asked the invigilators about it but weren’t communicated anything on behalf of the college authority.

As per protocol, the question papers are set by the designated ‘Question Setters’. Multiple question setters set different sets of questions for one paper. It is the moderation board that arranges the questions from those sets and the final question paper is presented before the Chairman of the Moderation board for approval. After the chairman, who is always the HOD of that particular subject in Assam University, approves the question paper, it goes to the printing press from the Controller of Examinations who sits at the helm of all the affairs.

How is it that so many eyes missed such a huge blunder while setting the question paper? The Controller of Examinations, Suprabir Dutta Roy feels the “hue and cry” about the error in the question paper is a “manufactured attempt to malign the University.” He explains, “Yes, there was an issue but that issue was solved internally within a few moments. It was communicated to the Principals through proper channels to communicate to the students that instead of six marks the weightage of certain questions will be 10 marks. After the matter was solved, bringing it in the public domain to defame the university is both unfair and unethical.”

While for him, the matter was solved, most of the students are still as clueless as they were after getting the question paper on 27th April. “We answered the broad questions assuming it’s worth six marks. For a ten mark question, my answer is not adequate. It would be unfair if I lose marks as I was not communicated in the examination hall about any change in the question paper nor were any of my classmates,” said a student who appeared for the examination at Radhamadhab College, Silchar. Students of Badarpur and Karimganj also reiterated the same.

Dr. Debashish Roy, Principal of Radhamadhab College Silchar said he has not received any communication from the Controller of Examinations, Assam University about any change in the question paper.

Principal of NC College Badarpur, Dr. Mortuja Hussain too echoed Principal Roy. “We are dealing with the future of students and so we need to be more cautious. No communication regarding the changes in the question paper was handed over to us. In fact, there is a WhatsApp group, nothing was put there too. I along with a few Principals decided that we will take up the matter in the next meeting,” asserted Dr. Hussian.

He added, “Being the Secretary of College Principal’s Council – Assam University Zone if I don’t know about any such communication, it is certain that the other Principals are also unaware about the corrections, the Controller is saying he has communicated.”

So, according to the Principals of colleges, the Controller of Examinations is lying. On the other hand, if the Principals themselves didn’t know about the corrections then there is no question of students being informed about it either at the time of examination.

Suprabir Dutta Roy, when informed about the Principals’ reactions, says he finds them shocking. “There are certain matters that are best kept confidential. For the sanctity of the examination, I for one must not come in public and play blame games. By doing so, I will insult the position I hold. Irrespective of whatever the Principals are suggesting, I stand by what I said and that is, all Principals were communicated about the changes in the question paper within 30 minutes of commencement of the examination,” said Roy.

Barak Bulletin, through its sources, got access to the official communication. It is the same WhatsApp group that Dr. Murtuja was referring to. In this group Principals or in-charge of examination centers are added and each one of them submits the attendance. On that same group, according to sources, the Controller of examinations posted that “Section A it will be 2 X 10 and Section B it will be 10 X 5. Total should be 70.” After this message was sent to the group, other Principals submitted the attendance for that day. It is impossible that all of them have missed the message.

When asked about the WhatsApp group and the message, Suprabir Dutta Roy said, “I am sorry, I am not entitled to share details about the Principal’s WhatsApp group to the media. I reiterate, I communicated it to the Principals and how I did is something that I should not disclose.”

Multiple sources including the Principal of a College confirmed that the Controller had indeed sent the message to the WhatsApp group. But the Principal did not want to come on record as he feels that would make him a “Villain” in his fraternity.

A senior professor, who has in the past handled examinations as the head of a centre, believes examinations are an extremely complicated process that demands close coordination between different stakeholders. “It is the teachers who goofed up and now they are saving themselves by putting the blame on Controller’s poor communication skills. In a nutshell, this sums up the state of education in Barak Valley,” says the professor.

Adding, “All the teachers and Principals are well aware that the Controller does not even see the question paper before it is distributed. It goes to him inside a sealed envelope from the chairman of the moderation board and he just forwards the same to the press for printing. Now by putting the blame on Controller’s lack of communication, we cannot shy away from the fact that many within us have erred.”

In this tug of war between College Teachers and Controller of Examinations getting squeezed are the students of the varsity. Who is to be blamed here for the confusion is for the University to investigate and rectify. But if the students get penalised because of this confusion, it would be unjust for sure.