Malkangiri: A day after answer keys of the special Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test (OTET), went viral on social media platforms, the district administration recommended Tuesday disciplinary action against nine candidates on charges of malpractice during the examination. Among them, five candidates were caught adopting unfair means at the Malkangiri Science College while four were found cheating at the Government Girls’ School in this town. The question papers and answer sheets of all nine have been seized and sent to the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) office in Bhubaneswar. Strong action has been recommended against them. The Special OTET examinations for both the categories (Paper I and II) of candidates were conducted by the BSE across the state Monday.
However, the answer keys went viral on social media before the commencement of the tests in Malkangiri district. The question papers were sent to three centres at Malkangiri around 6.30am from the strong room, but the answer keys went viral on social media platforms much before the commencement of the examinations. The answers doing the rounds online were said to be of Set A questions. It turned out to be true as after the examinations, the viral answers to the questions were verified and they matched.
After reports appeared in various sections of the media, district education officer Manas Kumar Jena and the additional district magistrate (ADM) Maheswar Chandra Nayak jointly conducted a probe. When contacted, Jena said that the answer keys and question paper that had gone viral did not happen in Malkangiri. However, a probe is underway to unravel the truth, he added. The development has sparked resentment among the candidates. It was alleged that some of the aspirants had spent around Rs 5,000 to get a copy of the question paper following which the answers went viral on social media platforms. Many have demanded a high level probe and stringent action against the persons involved in the leak of the question paper. They have also demanded that the examination be scrapped and held afresh with a new question paper