Question leakage is a shame

EDUCATION is clearly in a bad state in the country. With reports of questions for the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations being leaked and even appearing on Facebook, it is quite natural to conclude that somewhere along the line the authorities may have lost control over the entire examination process. In the recent past, there have been patent instances of question papers for examinations to the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) being out in the public domain before the examinations have got under way.  
We are glad that the issue has now drawn the serious attention of eminent citizens, who organized a protest sit-in on Friday. Their demand, one with which the whole country cannot but agree, is that the education authorities take severe and meaningful action to stop the menace. It is not possible for individuals or groups to come by question papers in advance unless they have links within the education establishment.
And what have the authorities done about it? In one word, nothing. The education minister refuses to believe anyone in his ministry is responsible for this sordid mess. He must think again, for when prominent individuals point the finger at the enemy within the education structure, there is a serious need to dig deeper into the issue.
The authorities take endless pride in the number of golden GPAs SSC and HSC students obtain every year. All that achievement will soon mean nothing unless question papers are placed under tight security before they reach the examination halls.