PSEB mid-term exams:Teachers irked as question papers used as political tool

After publicising its schemes in question papers ahead of the upcoming elections, the state government has now inserted politico-religious questions in the Class-12 PSEB mid-term history exam, inviting flak from the Opposition and teachers.

Undue political interference in the ongoing Punjab School Education Board midterm exams for Classes 6 to 12 has not gone down well with the Opposition and teachers of the district.

Teachers alleged that the state government was using school exams as a platform to further their political interests by printing government advertisements in question papers. They condemned using the PSEB mid-term exams as political tool. (Representative Image/HT File)

After publicising its schemes in question papers ahead of the upcoming elections, the state government has now inserted politico-religious questions in the Class-12 history exam, inviting flak from the Opposition.

In the history exam, which took place on September 17, students were asked “Whose forefathers were blessed by Guru Har Rai?” Of the four options, three included the names of former chief minister of Punjab and Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh, Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh, while the fourth option was ‘none of them.

Politicians outraged

Training his guns at state education minister Vijay Inder Singla, AAP MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan said he should tender an apology and the person who formulated the questions should be penalised.

Taking a sarcastic dig at the ruling dispensation, the AAP leader asked “Why not ask students, which Congress minister was involved in illegal mining or which Congress women CM was booked in a corruption case?”

SAD leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal also condemned the move. “The Congress is now resorting to dirty politics to project a clean image of their leaders, which is far from reality. We will stage a protest against this,” said Grewal.

Meanwhile, Dharmjit Kohara, a history teacher at a government school and president of Master Cadre Union, Ludhiana, said, “The question is completely out of syllabus. The history syllabus for Class 12 includes events from 1469 to 1849. Exams should not be used as a political tool”.

Govt ads in exam papers

Teachers alleged that the state government was using school exams as a platform to further their political interests by printing government advertisements in question papers.

Recently, an advertisement printed in a Class-5 Punjabi paper had highlighted the state government’s pension scheme and was followed by questions based on the advertisement.

“It is surprising to see the government using education for political benefits. I have never seen such a thing in my career ,” said the head of a primary school. A former DPI, schools on the condition of anonymity, termed the act ‘ethically wrong’.

Meanwhile, officials from the education department, including Krishan Kumar, secretary, school education, did not respond to several phone calls and text messages.