Solution to question paper leak

THE issue of leakage of question papers has become a talking point in Bangladesh recently. I read somewhere that someone proposed using computers in examinations. In this article, I look at a mechanism to defend against question paper leak.

The leak seems to take place during the printing stage of the question papers. Someone takes out at least one copy of the paper during printing. Hence, the idea is to find a solution that does not require printing of the papers as hard copies.

A pool of questions or question bank should be prepared for a particular education board or for all education boards. This is a normal process to have a large number of possible questions for a particular subject. The questions should be categorised as difficult questions, semi-difficult questions, and easy questions. According to the question making policy, there should be multiple choice questions or true-false questions, problem solving or narrative questions, short questions, etc. Each of these types may have difficult, semi-difficult, and easy sets/sections of questions. When the question pool or the question bank is created, it should be stored in a central database.

Once the database is created, either for a particular education board or for all boards, there should be a Web application or Web site front-end where there should be some options to choose the number of questions, types and categories of the questions, assigned marks for each question, estimated time of completion of answering the questions, etc., for the question paper. A randomise function can also be used to randomise or dynamically generate any question paper with the desired format/structure. This front-end can be supported by various types of programming and scripting languages.

Instead of Web application, specific software can also be developed to generate the question paper electronically using the pool of questions stored in the database. After generation of the question set/paper, the approver or the examination committee will approve it, and that set of questions will be shown electronically in each exam hall by using multimedia projectors. If any exam hall has computer for each examinee, the question paper may appear in front of him/her.

The idea is simple but there are positive and negative sides to it. Let us analyse the major points:

 (a) Need for uninterrupted electricity: Any such system must be supported with uninterrupted power supply.

 (b) Installation cost and longer benefit: Funds would be needed for creating the database and the Web application or software. Each exam hall would need one multimedia projector, and there is huge installation cost associated with this method. Existing infrastructure may be used as some educational institutions have such facilities. The exams could also be arranged in other places where projectors could be made available. While the installation cost is high, the method could be cost-effective in the long run. The huge cost of printing question papers would be eliminated because there would be no need for paper, ink, printing machines, etc.

 (c) Cyber security: Hackers may try to obtain the question paper that is generated electronically. The first layer of defense should be the known security mechanisms. As a second layer of defense, the time between approval of a particular question set and exam start-time could be kept short so that any leak does not affect the exam. For instance, if approval is given for only one set of questions half an hour before the exam, taking several dynamically generated sets of questions, the risk is almost fully diminished. Even if the question paper is leaked out, it will not affect the procedure much. This is a worst case scenario, which can be prevented with available modern cyber security solutions. It is also possible to use standalone computers to supply the softcopy of the question paper to be displayed electronically (for instance, using pen drives, or such devices).

 (d) Environmental issue: Saving a huge amount of paper would be environment friendly. The electrical devices will use electricity and produce heat, but the same applies for printing machines and the entire process of printing.

 (e) Availability of question papers: Once the exam is over, the question paper could be posted on the website of the ministry of education or of the education boards. In that way, people can download the archived softcopy papers and printing would be based on personal choice.

If there is anything left in Bangladesh that is still valued by others outside Bangladesh, it is the quality of education up to the Bachelor's degree level. I deeply feel for the genuine junior talents in Bangladesh. Leaked question papers will do no good to Bangladesh. Top-category students from Bangladesh rarely come to Malaysia, even for higher studies. Interestingly, even a mediocre student from Bangladesh does very well compared to the students from other countries. This is based on my experiences in South Korea and in Malaysia.

The positive image of Bangladeshi education system (up to undergraduate level) is under severe threat today. Personal gains and selfish interests have severely jeopardised it. Leaking of question papers must be stopped to genuinely evaluate the students who will represent Bangladesh in the coming days (even if they do not stay in Bangladesh in the long run).

The solution proposed in this article is very much doable. There are very qualified software and Web site development companies in Bangladesh and very good programmers who could write the codes for it. Network solution providers could help build the network infrastructure. Economists could try to estimate the installation costs and longer benefits. Educationists could see the positive points of it for the exam systems. While various facets of the proposal remain for further scrutiny by the professionals and experts associated with question preparation, programming, and budget, why do we not give some thoughts on this “a bit known” solution?

The writer is in the Department of Computer Science, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Malaysia.    E-mail: sakib.pathan@gmail.com
(The views in the article are the writer's own)