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Fifteen students of Cathedral and John Connon School, Fort, paid a peon at the institution around Rs 70,000 to leak out mathematics, physics and geography question papers for them.
The peon, who has confessed to school authorities, has been removed from service, while officials are still deciding the punishment to be meted out to the students, who are from grades VIII, IX and XII.
Principal Mira Isaacs said, I have still not taken a decision on the students, but they will have to pay for what they have done. The school stands for much more than just a few students who have shamed the institution.
The exams were held last week and from yesterday the school has begun holding all exams for the three grades again, a move that has sparked protests from parents. Why should my son be made to sit for all the papers again for no fault of his? asked one parent. He has gone through an examination process already.
However, school officials insist there is no way of knowing if only the papers from the three subjects were leaked.
While Isaacs refused to reveal the names of the students who paid the peon, it was learnt from sources that five are from Grade VIII, six (including two girls) from Grade IX and four from Grade XII. The Grade VIII students collectively paid about Rs 21,000 for the papers, Grade IX students about Rs 23,000 and Grade XII about Rs 25,000, the sources said.
While the Eighth and Ninth graders were appearing for their final exams, the Grade XII students were taking their prelims ahead of the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) examination that begins March 1.
The peon had been working for the school for the past one-and-a-half years and was the only one attached to the Grade XII office. The prelim question papers were brought to the school a day before the exam and he was expected to arrange them.
Isaacs said he pulled out question papers from the piles. In one case he did not even get the complete paper, she said. The peon also handled the papers for grades VIII and IX.
The leaks came to light when a teacher assessing Grade XII answer booklets observed that a few who fared well did not have an equally impressive record in the past. Isaacs said, A teacher knows what to expect from a student while correcting his or her paper. She found that in certain cases the students had done phenomenally well. Thats when the matter was investigated.
The principal said that in some cases the students had even sold their mobile phones to get the money to pay the peon. Interestingly, the school has a policy that students are not to carry more than Rs 25 per day.
The peon reportedly told the principal that he was tempted to make some quick money. We did not even get the money back from him. He claims to have spent it all, she said.
The 15 students were made to apologise in front of the entire school yesterday morning. They also gave a written apology. They said the fear of faring badly had led them to pay for the question papers.
Cathedral and John Connon is a co-educational, non-residential school run by the Anglo-Scottish Education Society. It has over 1,700 children studying from upper KG to Grade XII.
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