The annual High School Certificate (HSC) examinations concluded on Thursday amidst controversies. On the last day, the question paper of Social Science went viral on social media in Kamakhyanagar of Dhenkanal district and Jagatsinghpur.
Sources said photographs of the question paper were circulated on WhatsApp within an hour of the commencement of the examination.
Even after a three-tier security was put in place by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) and the banning of use of mobile phones in the examination centres, the examinations this year were still vitiated by controversies.
Excluding the Sanskrit subject, questions papers of all other subjects got circulated on social media after the annual examination began on February 23.
However, School and Mass Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra, like earlier occasions when the question papers went viral, refuted the allegation on Thursday and termed it as an intentional attempt to disrupt the examination and harm the career of 6 lakh students.
Patra said, “Talks on the circulation of HSC examination question papers on social media are rumours. The results of the examination will be declared in May. The Crime Branch is conducting a probe into the allegations.”
A total of 6, 08,031 candidates also appeared for the Social Science paper at 2,818 centres across the State on the last day.