Complaint to CM after alumni expose planned cheating for Mulund school trust secretary's son, who they allege was given a separate room where subject teachers helped him with answers for all the exam papers
The incident occurred at Wamanrao Muranjan School in Mulund. Pics/Rajesh Gupta
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A school in Mulund has seemingly taken a page out of Bihar's 2015 SSC copying scandal. While hundreds of parents and friends scaled walls of test centres to provide answers to students in Bihar, some teachers of the Wamanrao Muranjan High School and Junior College quietly pooled their resources to help one student – son of the secretary of the trust that runs the school, no less – cheat for all papers in this year's SSC exam.
The alleged cheating occurred throughout this year's SSC examination at the Wamanrao Muranjan High School and Junior College in Mulund East
Complaint letters regarding the incident have been sent to the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, by Rahul Banavali, a local activist, who is also an alumnus of the 1998 batch of the school. The first set was sent out on April 11, while the second one was sent on July 4.
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The student at the heart of the scandal is the son of Deepak Joshi, secretary of the Raosaheb Balaram Nyandev Thakur Vidyamandir, which runs the school. Banavali has alleged that the student was provided with papers before the scheduled exam time and subject teachers were also present in his classroom to provide answers.
Right from Day 1
The incident came to light after a few teachers resumed their job after being away on supervision duty and informed school's alumni about the incessant copying. The complaint states that the assisted cheating began at the start of the SSC examination on March 7 to help Joshi's son. While the exams were on, some other students had also noticed the copying and mentioned it to their parents.
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Soon enough, the rumours started doing rounds and reached the teachers who were hitherto unaware of the happening. Unhappy with the events, they mentioned what had happened to Banavali, who then sent the complaint to higher authorities.
Banavali told mid-day, "When the teachers approached me to inform about this unfair practice, none wanted to come forward, fearing consequences of raising their voice against the school. What I have come to know from them is very serious and is a complete injustice to many other students appearing for the same exam at the same time."
Cheating appliances galore
"The secretary's son was given question papers before the scheduled time. Not only was he given a separate space to sit while appearing for the exam, but also received assistance from teachers who provided answers," he added, saying that the first complaint had been sent in March itself.
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"I have been following it up since then, but the authorities have taken no concrete action. So I have once again sent letters to higher authorities, including the Chief Minister," said Banavali. Speaking to mid-day on the condition of anonymity, a teacher said, "I was away from the school as I was on supervision duty at another branch. But when I got to know about the incident, I was shocked and hence mentioned it to our former students."
Dattatray Jagtap, chairman of the Mumbai division of MSBSHSE said, "We have received the complaint and it is a serious matter, if proven true. The local education officer will be asked to conduct an enquiry in this complaint."
Trust in denial
As for the trust, it is in complete denial of the allegations and has instead decided to file a complaint against Banavali for targeting it for vested interests.
Dr. Anand Pradhan, chairman of board of trustees, said, "Why was complaint not made when the said copying incident was happening in the school as alleged? Why did the complainant wait for so long to raise their voice? This itself is to be questioned. It shows that the complaint has been made with mala fide intentions. They could have directly gone to the judiciary at that time, instead of making noise much after the exam. The education department has already asked us for a report on it and we have provided the same. Now if higher authorities have to inquire, we are not against it."
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He added, "The vigilance department raided the school during exams. That specific boy and the entire school were inspected thoroughly and it was found that no such incident was happening at the school. We also have it in writing from 21 teachers from the school that no such incident took place. It is also important to note that the trust has no say in how exams are held at school. We just provide infrastructure. This school has been holding exams for railway and police department too for many years. If we had such lacklustre management, why would any organisation trust us for holding such important examinations?" Joshi remained unreachable for comment.
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