Day one of the Karnataka SSLC Exam witnessed a question paper leak, several mix-ups by custodians and supervisors and glitches in hall tickets, which put 40 students in a fix.

According to Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board Director Sumangala V nine students were debarred for malpractices in the examination hall - six students in Dharwad and one each in Chikkodi, Bagalakote and Kalaburagi.

In Vijayapura district’s Shirol, near Muddebihal, the question paper for the Kannada exam was leaked within an hour of the papers arriving at the exam centre at Vivekananda High School. 

“Girish Hadapad, a student was debarred after he passed on a question paper through the window of the exam hall. His accomplice then took pictures of the question paper and prepared answer chits and passed it on to other students,” Sumangala added.

The custodians of the question papers and invigilators at the examination centre, including the principal of the school, have been suspended pending inquiry. 

In Belagavi’s Athani area, a route officer was suspended for allowing an SSLC student to sit inside a vehicle carrying the question papers. 

In Dharwad district’s Kundgol area, 18 students received question papers that were meant for students who were attempting the Kannada exam the second time. 

“The students had already finished answering half the questions when the supervisors realised the mistake. The students were given additional time to compensate for the lost time,” an official with the Dharwad Department of Public Instruction said. 

Similar incidents of question paper mix ups were also reported in three schools in Bengaluru South division. DPI officials said that an inquiry is underway to determine the cause for the mix up and appropriate action would be initiated.

In Chamarajanagara district, 40 students had to wait for over an hour due to glitches in the hall tickets issued to them. “Four students were not allowed to write the exam there. Seva Bharati English Medium School on Chennipuramole Road was the exam centre for the private candidates. However, the hall tickets were assigned to the students to Seva Bharati Kannada Medium School on Court Road. This was the reason why the four students were not allowed to write the exam,” a DPI official said.