During the BCA sixth semester exam for the subject ‘Data Mining and Data Warehousing’ held on April 2, a serious allegation arose against the principal of Greenwoods Arts and Science College, P. Ajeesh, based on the statement of a student who was caught copying. The student claimed that the exam questions were shared in a WhatsApp group before the exam by the principal himself.
According to the examination procedure of Kannur University, password-protected question papers are sent to college principals 2.5 hours prior to the exam. The principals are responsible for printing and distributing these papers to the students. This system has now come under scrutiny.
Following a complaint by the university registrar, Bekal police registered a case against Ajeesh under charges of criminal breach of trust and cheating. However, Ajeesh defended himself, stating that he had only shared previous years’ question papers for study purposes, and it was purely coincidental that some of those questions appeared in the actual exam.
The college management has temporarily suspended Ajeesh and has assured full cooperation with the ongoing investigation. Meanwhile, Kannur University has decided to re-conduct the compromised exam and has shifted the exam center from Greenwoods College to another location.
This incident has shifted public focus towards the ethical standards of examination conduct in colleges and the responsibilities of academic administrators. It has highlighted the urgent need to tighten procedures to safeguard the trust of students and parents.
Events like this raise important discussions about what steps should be taken to prevent such breaches of trust from recurring.