We, the concerned students, unite in this petition to address the recent alarming situation of question leaks in the Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate (HSSLC) Examination 2024 for the “English” subject conducted by the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE).

The repercussions of question leaks extend far beyond the examination halls. They tarnish the reputation of our educational institutions and cast doubts on the credibility of the examination authorities, and shake the confidence of students, parents, and educators in the sanctity of our evaluation systems. These leaks not only compromise the meritocracy our educational institutions strive to uphold but also inflict significant emotional and psychological distress on students who have diligently prepared for their examinations.

The examination held for the English subject on 12 February 2024 had questions that were circulated throughout WhatsApp by students among themselves and groups. The questions that were circulated were the exact same questions which came in the English Question Paper.

According to students, these questions started to be circulated the night before exams. Some students have claimed that the messages were sent by a teacher from Kohima who had set the question paper. The messages were shared among students from Kohima and Dimapur.

According to a report by the Hornbill TV, the NBSE claimed the news of question leaks to be fake.

However, we, the students do not agree with the claim of NBSE as the students claim that they have seen the questions being forwarded to them and in groups.

Some have attempted to dismiss the leaked questions to be merely suggestions. But this claim is baseless as it is known for a fact that you cannot predict English questions with this much accuracy.

The leaked questions had a question for 3 idioms and phrases and the exact 3 were in the messages, the book contains 160+ idioms and phrases. One can never predict with this much accuracy.

The questions also had MCQs which are again almost impossible to predict, and to predict every MCQ that had come on the question paper is yet again impossible.

Not only these, but even questions from the writing section were in the messages. To guess questions from the writing section is not humanly possible, it can only be done by the person who has set the question.

The messages forwarded had questions worth over 50 marks. The entire paper is of 80 marks out of which 15 marks are from reading section which is not significant to be known in advance. So almost 90% of the questions were leaked in advance.

These are not suggestions but are actually question leaked in disguise.

We, the students, have two demands:

1. We demand thorough investigation in this case by the NBSE, the teacher who had leaked the questions and the students involved must bear serious consequences. Strictest actions must be taken against them.

2. We demand for either a re-examination for the English subject or compensation in the form of marks. The former would be preferred. As some of the students have gained an unfair advantage and would be getting higher marks compared to the students who have studied hard and gave their exams fairly.

This is a very serious issue as it not only fosters an unfair environment. But also puts the reputation of our prestigious and esteemed State Board on a pedestal. This matter should not be taken lightly as it is not only a matter of marks but a matter of fairness.

We would like to request Mr. Temjen Imna Along (Minister of Higher Education and Tourism) to help us in this issue.

We implore the NBSE to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter and uphold its commitment to fair examinations.