KISHTWAR BOARD EXAMINATIONS: Board's failing grip on Education

A few weeks ago, we carried a news story of how the volunteers under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) were running from pillar to post, to get their meager honorarium from the authorities. This week, we bring you another aspect of the failing education administration in the mountainous district Kishtwar.
The Board examinations, conducted throughout the district, are suffering from serious malpractices, which include corrupt practices, by the superintendents themselves.
These malpractices go unnoticed most of the times because of the geographical inaccessibility of most of the examination centers in the district. Since authorities like the flying squad or even the regular representatives of the State Board of school education stay away from the far-flung areas of Kishtwar, such negligent conduct escapes the eyes of the Board. Sources within the State Board have confirmed that the teachers of various government schools in Kishtwar pay from their pocket to get engaged as superintendent for these Board exams, just like the corrupt practices carried out in construction business.
The main reason why hefty amounts are paid to get an opportunity to conduct Board examinations in far-flung centers is that the students, in turn, are charged money to allow them to copy while sitting in the examination. At an average, Rs 1,000 to 3,000 are charged from the students who appear in these Board papers and in return, they can bring in any copying material into the examination hall and write answers at their own free will.
While it seems that the authorities are oblivious to the fact, sources also indicate that some of the board officials in the district appear to be hand in glove with the corrupt teachers. This is due to the fact that the teachers who indulge in such practices are repeatedly being engaged as superintendents, despite complaints being registered against them.
That is not all, the authorities are also engaging simple teachers as superintendents for Board examinations up to the level of 10 and 10+2, which widens the scope of copying during examinations. For instance, in a practical examination of 10+2, instead of lecturers, simple teacher or lecturer of another stream were engaged as superintendents, who were not even aware of the subject for which the practical was taking place.
To sum up the whole scenario of Board examinations in Kishtwar, it would be sufficient to say that such events have become money-minting machines for the unethical teachers and education authorities.