HSC exams: Police register case against three Kozhikode teachers

KOZHIKODE: Police have registered a case invoking non-bailable sections against three teachers , including the school principal, in connection with the malpractices in the conduct of higher secondary examinations at the Government Higher Secondary School at Neeleswaram near Mukkam in the district.

The police on Monday registered case against school principal and examination chief superintendent K Raziya, computer science teacher of the school Nishad V Mohammed and deputy chief examination superintendent at the school Faisal P K, who is a teacher of Chendamangaloor GHSS.

The case was registered on the basis of the complaint by Directorate of Higher Secondary Education (DHSE) Kozhikode regional deputy director Gokul Krishnan.

Mukkam police sub-inspector C R Anil Kumar said that case has been registered under Sections 419 (punishment for cheating by impersonation) 420 (cheating), 465 and 468 (forgery).

A DHSE inquiry had found that Nishad had allegedly written the Plus Two English examination for two students and computer application exam for two Plus One students. The departmental inquiry also found that the teacher made corrections in the Plus One computer application answer sheets of 32 students to help them get higher scores. Nishad was also the additional deputy chief of exam at the school.

The department inquiry had found that the malpractice was carried out with the knowledge and support of the school principal. The higher secondary education director had last week suspended the three teachers following an internal inquiry.

The malpractice came to light as the teacher who evaluated the answer sheets of the students got suspicious on seeing similar handwriting in the answer scripts. The teacher sent the papers for scrutiny and they were cross-checked with the answer sheets of the students in other subjects.

The two Plus Two students, for whom Nishad had written the exam, had told media last week that they were ignorant about the alleged malpractice conducted by the teacher.

The director of higher secondary education had lodged a complaint in connection with the incident before the state police chief on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Youth League took out a protest march to the Mukkam AEO office, demanding judicial inquiry into the incident. The police blocked the march in front of the civil station and as many as 30 protesters were arrested and removed.