Guj: Std 7th exam rescheduled after students `steal' question paper

Bhavnagar: The Gujarat government on Friday cancelled the annual primary school exam of two subjects for standard 7th after question papers were found to have been stolen from a government school in Bhavnagar district.

Two students of std 7th admitted to stealing the papers on Wednesday night from their school, officials said.

The annual exam of Science and Social Science, scheduled to be held in all state-run primary schools on Friday and Saturday, will now be conducted on April 29 and 30, they added.

The exam papers are prepared centrally by the Director of Primary Education and sent to the schools in sealed covers, said an official.

On Thursday morning, Devraj Dhadhla, principal of a primary school in Nesvad village in Talaja tehsil, realized on reaching the school that someone had broken in during the night and stolen question papers of Science and Social Science subjects.

After registering a First Information Report, Talaja police started an investigation and found out that two students of standard 7th had stolen the papers after breaking the locks, said Assistant Superintendent of Police Safin Hasan.

The stolen papers were also recovered, he added.

Subsequently, the office of the Director of Primary Education informed District Primary Education Officers that the examination had been cancelled, and the fresh examination will take place on April 29 and 30 with new exam papers.

It also directed that to avoid such incidents, teachers should keep sealed covers containing exam papers at their residence instead of at school.