TET goof-up: Bhagwant Mann suspends two GNDU professors

A day after a major blunder led to the cancellation of the teacher eligibility test , CM Bhagwant Mann on Monday placed two professors of Guru Nanak Dev University , Amritsar, under suspension and ordered their arrest.

A day after a major blunder led to the cancellation of the teacher eligibility test (TET), chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday placed two professors of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar, under suspension and ordered their arrest.

The police have been asked to take exemplary action against them so that it acts as a deterrent for others. (HT File Photo)

The chief minister suspended Dr Hardeep Singh, professor, department of computer science, and Dr Ravinder Singh Sawhney, professor, department of electronics technology, with immediate effect, according to an official release. It said the chief minister also directed the police department to immediately arrest the alleged “perpetrators” of the TET exam irregularities. The police have been asked to take exemplary action against them so that it acts as a deterrent for others.

“Any sort of callousness in this prestigious exam will not be tolerated. No one, however affluent he may be, will be spared in this case,” he said in the statement. Mann, in a tweet earlier, also called it a “paper leak. The GNDU cancelled the exam after it circulated a multiple-choice question paper to candidates appearing in the TET with over 50 answers marked in bold. Most of the correct answers in the social studies exam were marked in bold. Over 1 lakh candidates appeared for the exam in centres across the state. The social studies section of paper-2 of the PSTET is a qualifying test to become a trained graduate teacher for classes 6 to 8.

Earlier, education minister Harjot Singh Bains ordered a principal secretary-level probe into the goof-up. “To maintain complete fairness in the examination process, a principal secretary-level probe has been ordered to look into the PSTET exam conducted by GNDU on Sunday,” he tweeted, stressing that accountability will be fixed and those found guilty will be booked for criminal negligence.

The minister also said that GNDU had regretted the goof-up and would conduct the exam again without charging any fee. The minister directed the education department to have a suitable clause for compensation included in memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed with third parties in future for compensation to candidates in such a scenario. “Why should candidates suffer?” he posted on Twitter.

Following the lapse, the GNDU, on Sunday evening, announced a probe committee, too. “The paper has been cancelled. Inconvenience to candidates is regretted. A fresh paper will be held at the earliest,” said exam coordinator Hardeep Singh, adding, “The question paper directly goes from paper setter to the press, and no one from the university has access to it to maintain confidentiality”. The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) got the exam conducted through GNDU.