Bihar stays results of toppers who failed to answer basic questions

The Bihar Examination Board orders probe after Intermediate arts topper terms political science as 'prodical science', science topper goes blank when asked basic chemistry questions, reports M I Khan from Patna.

After a controversy erupted over the merit of Class 12 (Science and Arts) toppers this year in Bihar, the Bihar School Examination Control Board on Wednesday put their results on hold and ordered them to appear before a team of experts for an interview and a written examination.

On Tuesday, Rubi Kumari, who topped Bihar Board’s Class 12 (Arts) examination, said that political science is a subject concerned with cooking. She also failed to pronounce it correctly and called it ‘prodical science’.

Also, Saurabh Sresth, who topped the Intermediate exams in science, did not have basic knowledge about the subject. He said that aluminium is the most reactive element of the Periodic Table. When asked about sodium (which is the most reactive element) and its electron configuration, he failed to reply.

BSEB chairman Lal Keshwar Singh said that results of the two toppers have been stayed till further order, in view of questions raised over their merit and quality.

”A team of experts will interview all the toppers of Class 12 -- including science, arts and commerce -- and will test them through a written exam also on June 3,” he said.

Interestingly, Rubi, like most of the students in Bihar, wants to become an Indian Administrative Service officer, while Saurabh wants to become a scientist. Both Rubi and Saurabh are from a college in Vaishali district of Bihar.

Rubi didn't know much about her other subjects also. She said she obtained 444 marks out of 600, while the exam was of 500 marks only.

Till last year, rampant mass cheating in Bihar board exams was reported. This year, however, it was said to be in control. The board claimed that this year's exams were ‘free of cheating’ and cited the steep fall in pass percentage as a proof. “Strict measures against cheating like installation of CCTV cameras and prohibitory orders during the board exams conducted in February this year resulted in a fall in pass percentage,” a board official said.

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However, cases like Rubi and Saurabh indicate that there were some loopholes which such candidates exploited.

Bihar Education Minister Ashok Choudhary expressed his displeasure publicly over how the officials allowed this to happen. “We worked hard this year for conducting a cheating-free exam to change the image of school education in Bihar. But latest development is an embarrassment, due to the negligence or a nexus of some vested interests in the system. Action will be taken against such officials,” he said.

Taking a serious note of this development, Bihar School Examination Control Board has ordered a probe into it.

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