HSEB fails to maintain exam system

Bishnu Prasad Aryal
Kathmandu, June 8

The checking system of answer sheets of Grade 12 under the Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) is said to be unethical as per its rules. The checking began last week immediately after the examinations of Class 12 completed.

The HSEB has set certain norms while checking the answer sheets at its head office in Bhaktapur. An examiner is given nearly 200 sheets to check in a week. The norms provisions to check 200 copies in at least five days, according to the HSEB

However, a teacher completes around 100 copies each day without reading the sheets thoroughly, said an examiner, requesting anonymity. “One of my colleagues told me he completed 100 copies in six ours,” he told this daily. “I finished 110 copies in 12 hours,” he added.

He knows this was against the rules and negligence to the future of the students. “Nobody cares about their responsibility if they earn more money by checking copies rapidly,” he said. Rs 15 per copy is paid to the examiner. “If the HSEB violates norms and issues 25 marks as grace to the students who fail in two subjects, will it fall under the responsible act?,” he questioned. "We have heard the HSEB taking money and influencing the results."

As soon as one examiner completes a bundle of sheets in two days, one stays at home freely or work at his office. The examiner comes on the sixth day from the beginning and takes another bundle. There are about 700-800 examiners checking the copies this time. “The checking of copies will complete in about a month,” he said.

According to the HSEB, about 260,000 students appeared in the exams of Grade 12 this year and the results will be published by mid-July.

Ram Bahadur Khadka, member secretary of the HSEB, said that they were strictly implementing the exam norms of coding-decoding, checking copies, scrutiny, and an examiner should be a college teacher who completed Master’s Degree before 2006. “However, we do not keep records of daily checking,” Khadka said. “We cannot blame all but some might have been misusing this loophole.”

“We will not provide more than two bundle of sheets to an examiner. Second bundle is given after seven days,” Khadka said. “We believe the educated persons. If the intellectual circle does such an irresponsible and dishonest act, what can we do?,” he wondered. “We will take action against them if reported,” he added, requesting to provide the name of those teachers. He denied all other allegations.

Nearly exams of about a dozen of subjects in the HSEB were cancelled about a month ago. Its credibility was under ring in the past years too, according to the academicians.

This news was published in THE HIMALAYAN TIMES, June 9, 2009.