Telangana police arrested a teacher in Vikarabad district on Monday, April 3 for allegedly leaking the Class 10 Telugu language question paper. Minutes after the exam began, the question paper was leaked through messaging platform WhatsApp, allegedly by the teacher who was on duty as an invigilator at an exam centre at a government school in Tandur. As word spread about the leak, officials of the state Education Department and the police conducted an investigation.
On a complaint by the District Education Officer, police booked a case against the invigilator, a science teacher, and arrested him. The teacher allegedly took a picture of the exam paper and shared it on WhatsApp to help one of his students who was appearing for the exam. Police are investigating if the question paper was circulated to more candidates. Other teachers and staff members on duty at the exam centre are being questioned.
The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam began across Telangana on Monday. The exam began at 9.30 am and concluded at 12.30 pm. This year, a total of 4,94,620 students appeared for the first exam in 2,652 exam centres in the state.
Last year, a question paper leak during the Class 10 exams had hit Andhra Pradesh. About 70 people, including 45 teachers, were arrested for their alleged role in the leak in a few districts. Managements of some private schools in collusion with a few teachers from government schools had allegedly tried to help their students score good marks by leaking the papers soon after the papers reached the exam centres. Class 10 exams for this year started in Andhra Pradesh too on Monday. More than 6.64 lakh students are writing the exam across the state.
The SSC question paper leak in Vikarabad has come at a time when question paper leak of various exams conducted by the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) has rocked the state and triggered protests by opposition parties, students, and youth groups.