Bengal school headmaster suspended for leaking board question papers
Kolkata, June 7: The headmaster of a high school in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district has been suspended for "leaking the question papers" of the state-run Madhyamik (Secondary) examination earlier this year, authorities announced on Thursday.
The matter came to light in March after two assistant teachers of Subhashnagar High School in Maynaguri complained that headmaster Haridyal Roy had opened the sealed question paper packets ahead of scheduled time and got answers prepared by the respective subject teachers. The answers were then handed over to a school boy.
One of the teachers had even videographed the headmaster opening the packets ahead of time.
"We are suspending the headmaster, the disciplinary proceeding will be continued against him and the English teacher, Bishwajit Rai who had done videography in the strong-room," said West Bengal Board of Secondary Education President Kalyanmoy Ganguly on Thursday.
After the matter surfaced in March, the WBBSE had ordered a detailed investigation, and the report was submitted some time back.
The investigation revealed that the sealed question paper packets were opened well ahead of scheduled time on each day of the Madhyamik examination.
The WBBSE also said action was being taken other teachers and examiners who were involved.
"The additional venue supervisor ... will also face disciplinary proceedings, the history teacher ... is being given a strict warning for changing his statements," Ganguly added.
According to him, the Sub-Inspector of schools had given unverified statements.
The Education Department has slapped a 'show cause' on Bhaumik for disclosing the matter of 'question leak' without being able to produce any documents.
State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee backed the decisions.
"Our department has agreed with the reports submitted and the steps suggested by the West Bengal Secondary Department regarding the accused principal and teachers. I had just suggested them to implement those after the declaration of the result," he said.
"I strongly believe that a headmaster cannot deny his responsibility," he said
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Curbs on movement, assembly remain in force in Kashmir after protests against Khamenei's killing
Srinagar (PTI): Normal life in Kashmir was affected for the fifth consecutive day as partial restrictions on movement of people remained in force as a precautionary measure.
The restrictions were imposed on Monday after spontaneous protests broke out across Kashmir a day earlier against the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israel joint strikes.
Chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday held a meeting with civil society representatives and religious leaders as part of efforts to bring the situation back to normalcy.
ALSO READ: Protests against Khamenei's killing: Curbs remain in force in Kashmir
After the meeting, Abdullah appealed to people to maintain peace while expressing grief and anger in "mosques, shrines and Imambaras".
The government has shut educational institutions till Saturday, and reduced mobile internet speeds.
"Restrictions on the movement and assembly of the people continued in many parts of Kashmir on Thursday," the officials said.
A large number of police and paramilitary CRPF personnel were deployed across the city to prevent gatherings of protestors, the officials said.
They added that concertina wires and barricades were placed at important intersections leading into the city, while asserting that these were precautionary measures imposed to maintain law and order.
The iconic Ghanta Ghar in the city centre of Lal Chowk here continued to remain a no-go zone after the authorities sealed area with barricades erected all around it on late Sunday night.
The move to seal the Ghanta Ghar came after it witnessed massive protests on Sunday after Khamenei's assassination in the joint air strikes by the US and Israel.
This is the first time since August 2019 -- when Article 370 was revoked -- that protests on such a large scale have taken place in Kashmir.
