The CBSE said on Wednesday the Class 10 mathematics and Class 12 economics board exam will be held again over reports of paper leak.
The dates for the retest will be announced on the CBSE website within a week, the Board said.
“The Board has taken cognizance of certain happenings in the conduct of certain examinations as are being reported. With the view to upholding the sanctity of the Board examinations and in the interest of the fairness to the students, the Board has decided to reconduct the examinations in the subjects,” a CBSE statement said.
At a press conference later in the day, Union education minister Prakash Javadekar said the matter of paper leaks is being “seriously” looked into.
“Seems some organised gangs are doing it [leak] deliberately. We are sure whosoever is doing it will be identified and nabbed soon. We have also decided to tighten security for the time when papers are being distributed,” said Javadekar.
The minister also confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him after the reports emerged.
Students appeared for the Class 10 mathematics paper of the Central Board of Secondary Education on Wednesday while the Class 12 Economics paper was held on March 26.
Students and teachers said on Wednesday the Class 10 mathematics paper was easy and scoring, and that the questions were according to the syllabus.
Akanksha, a student of Vivekananda School in Dehradun, also found the question paper extremely easy. “There was no issue with any question and the paper was set as per the syllabus of NCERT,” she added.
On Monday, CBSE had denied claims on social media that the economics paper was leaked ahead of the exam as reports of the question paper being leaked circulated through social media and WhatsApp hours before the start of the exam.
“We have checked with all examination centres and the paper was not leaked. The source of the circulation of this information is not known yet,” a senior CBSE official had said.