Hyderabad: Seven govt teachers from Nizamabad district were suspended for allegedly leaking the Hindi and Telugu papers (second language) even as the SSC examination (class 10) was underway across Telangana on Wednesday.The leaks were reported from two exam centres – the zilla parishad high schools (ZPHS) in Aloor and Mendora – in the district.According to education dept officials, the test papers went viral on social media after they were shared by the staff through WhatsApp, halfway through the examination that started around 9.30 am.While the district education officer (DEO) of Nizamabad had initially ordered the suspension of nine teachers, two of them were revoked after it was found that the papers were not leaked from the third centre – Govt Junior College, Bodhan – as suspected earlier.“According to preliminary investigation we suspect that these teachers knew some students at the centres whom they were trying to help. They sent the papers to someone outside on WhatsApp and asked them to send answers. It doesn’t look like they did this for monetary gains,” P Ashok, DEO, Nizamabad told TOI.Those suspended include two gazetted headmasters, B Rajendhar and P Mamatha; school assistants T Vijay Kumar, G Ravinder and Ch Bupathi, and secondary grade teachers P Umender and N Sagar. While school assistants K Venu and A Shivananda Rao from Bodhan were also suspended initially, that order was withdrawn by the DEO later after it was found that the paper from the Bodhan centre was circulated only after the exam ended at 12.45 pm.Based on a complaint from mandal education officers (MEO), Nizamabad police registered a FIR under Section 3, 4 (A), 5 (read with 8) of Telangana Public Examinations (prevention of malpractice and unfair means) Act, 1997 against the teachers.“In the Aloor incident, we have found that the teacher tried to help Urdu medium students who were appearing for the Telugu exam. He shared the question paper over WhatsApp,” said P Satyanarayana, inspector, Aloor (town), adding they are yet to confirm if any of the teachers passed on the answers to students.In an official statement, A Krishna Rao, director of govt exams, Telangana, said that the matter was first brought to light around 12:15 pm by the deputy commissioner of police after he saw it on some WhatsApp group. He reported that the Telugu question paper was being circulated on social media in the Bodhan area.“Immediately, the officials concerned, including MEOs and the flying squad staff, were instructed to investigate the matter,” he said, adding, “Our probe showed that some invigilators engaged in malpractice. Consequently, disciplinary actions were taken against them based on the investigation report submitted to the collector.”
