CBSE Maths Paper Row: Board promises relief as politicians join the chorus

The row surrounding the ‘extremely difficult’ CBSE Maths Exam Paper in Class XII exam reached a new high yesterday, as politicians joined the chorus in demanding an inquiry into the matter.

In the last few days, the Central Board of Secondary Education has received several complaints about the CBSE Class XII Mathematics paper, which was conducted on March 14, 2016. Described as ‘very tough’ by students and parents from across the country; the board has received flak from academicians for setting the paper on the lines of IIT-JEE test. Fanning the fire over the controversy, reports of ‘paper leak’ in the Patna region, which further aggravated the need for an independent inquiry into the matter.

The flames of CBSE Math Paper Row reached parliament yesterday through Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu. Mr. Naidu stated that the matter ‘deserved enquiry’ and that he would be raising a request for the same with Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani. Further elaborating on the topics, he said, “…Certain questions were very tough and even bright student couldn’t answer them effectively… Media said some questions were leaked and even sold.” Congress's KC Venugopal, RSP's NK Premachandran and AIADMK’s SR Vijayakumar also made similar representations to HRD minister on the CBSE Math Paper issue.

Joining the chorus on the row was Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who wrote to HRD Minister demanding a probe into the allegations of ‘paper leak’. “…Media reports said the mathematics paper of CBSE Class XII was leaked… I request you to order a fair probe pertaining to reports of paper leak,” he said.

Following the rising political pressure over the issue, the board was compelled to soften its stand and issue some clarification. Through a public release, CBSE promised remedial measures before evaluation of answer sheets for CBSE Math paper. The Board has stated that the feedback received from different sources will be placed before a committee, which will decide on further course of action over the issue.

Click here to get the public release by CBSE related to this matter.