Class V students find English exam easy amid row over unequal paper distribution

The Class V board exams commenced today with the English paper, marking a significant shift as the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) took over the exam conduction from the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) this year.

However, government school teachers have expressed discontent, highlighting the timeline of receiving the question paper. They claimed that while private schools received their question papers via email last evening around 5 pm and government schools were given the papers only on the day of the exam.

• Government school teachers raised concerns over private schools receiving question papers a day earlier, while government schools got them on the exam day.
• District Education Officer (Elementary) Ravinder Kaur defended the process, citing logistical challenges in distributing papers to 1,100 schools simultaneously.
• Class V board exams began on Friday with the English paper, marking a shift as SCERT took over from PSEB.

Devinder Singh Sidhu, senior vice president of the Democratic Teachers’ Front, Ludhiana, pointed out the disparity, raising concerns over potential unfair advantages for private school students.

“Even though the question papers for private and government schools were different, private schools got theirs a day in advance. Moreover, private schools conduct exams on their own premises, and if their results turn out better, government school teachers will again be blamed for not working hard enough,” Sidhu said.

In response, District Education Officer (Elementary) Ravinder Kaur defended the process, stating that the instructions from the Head Office were followed.

“With over 1,100 schools, it was not feasible to distribute the papers simultaneously. Special IDs were created to ensure full confidentiality,” Kaur explained.

Despite the controversy, students found the English paper easy.

Gurpreet Singh, a teacher ,questioned why SCERT was conducting the Class V board exams when PSEB continues to handle exams for other grades. All the schools should be considered equal, he added.