Nitish assures action in Class 12 topper scam, teachers in 600 schools to face axe

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday assured of action against officials and school teachers after completion of the probe in the Class 12 topper scam. He said teachers of those schools where no student passed the exam would be dismissed.

"We have already taken action against those guilty and no one will be spared. After the probe, officials from the Block Education Officer (BEO) to District Education Officer (DEO), school teachers and others will be punished for not fulfilling their duty," Nitish Kumar told newspersons here after his weekly Lok Samvad programme.

"Thosh karwai hogi sabhi ke khilaf jo jimmedar hain (tough action will be taken against all those responsible), yeh sab mahaa-manthan ke baaad jaldi hoga (this will be done after discussions)," he added.

The Chief Minister said his government will take tough action against teachers of the schools, where all students have failed in the Class 12 exams conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB). He admitted that irregularities were committed at thee home centres for the Class 12 exams.

Nitish Kumar said that some people have been indulging in acts that is damaging Bihar's image.

"Bihar ki chawi Bihar ke hi kuch log badnam karne ki koshish kar rahein hain (some people of Bihar are attempting to damage Bihar's image.) Lagatar apne rajya ki chawi ko bigadne mein lage hue hai (they are repeatedly trying to damage the state's image)", he added.

Earlier, Bihar Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh had said that in 654 schools all students had failed in the Class 12 exams.

"Teachers of all such schools will be dismissed within 15 days," said Nitish Kumar.

He said the government has succeeded in conducting cheating-free exams this year and managed to improve the education and examination system in the state.

"But some people have managed to damage our effort... It is a challenge for us," he added.

Nitish Kumar said he had ordered an FIR be filed soon after he was informed about this year's Class 12 Arts topper Ganesh Kumar, who fudged his age to appear in the exams.

The Chief Minister said he has asked top officials to prepare a detailed action plan for Class 10 and Class 12 in a bid to improve the education system.

Ganesh Kumar, a student of RNSJN Utkraamit Madhya Vidhyalaya in Samastipur district, was arrested on Friday evening and later sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

He was declared the topper of Class 12 Arts stream securing 82.6 per cent, but he stumbled over queries posed by the media on music in which he scored 65 out of 70 in practicals.

BSEB chairman Anand Kishore on Friday said Ganesh Kumar is 42-years-old and a father of two. The BSEB lodged an FIR against him after finding that he declared his age as 24 in the registration form to appear in the exams.

The BSEB has also served Ganesh Kumar a showcause notice, asking him to explain his stand in three days.

Ganesh Kumar passed Class 10 in 1990 from CRSR High School in Giridih, Jharkhand. He had then mentioned his age as 07-11-1975, and written his name as Ganesh Ram, son of Shankar Nath Ram.

In 2015, he fudged his age in order to take the Class 10 exam again in Samastipur. He changed his name from Ganesh Ram to Ganesh Kumar and gave his date of birth as 02-06-1993.

--IANS

ik/amit/rn