In an unprecedented incident, Nagpur University (NU) was forced to cancel the Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) fourth-semester examination shortly after it began on Thursday morning due to a wrong question paper, sparking chaos at exam centres. Within an hour, the NU exam section announced a re-examination scheduled for June 10. According to serving and retired exam section officials, there is no prior instance of a running exam being called off in such a manner.
The Blunder
The confusion erupted when students appearing for the BCom fourth-semester examination in Fundamentals of Insurance were instead given a question paper titled appropriately but containing questions from Fundamentals of Banking, a third-semester subject. Hundreds of students and several exam centres confronted officials over the error. Top exam officials admitted the mistake, blaming the paper setter for omitting the title on most question paper sets. 'The setter mentioned the paper title on the first set but forgot to do so for the rest, resulting in the same title being repeated on all sets,' they explained. Approximately 950 out of over 10,000 BCom students received the wrong question paper.
Student Reactions
Students alleged that after raising the issue, many were asked to leave the examination centres and return home instead of continuing with the exam. In some cases, invigilators allegedly forced students to attempt the paper despite the anomaly. An examinee at one centre said, 'Invigilators told us that 160 students got the correct question paper. Around 80 of us received the banking-related question paper, though the subject title was correct. We checked all questions and found none matched our syllabus. We were asked to submit a written application and go home.' Only 40 to 50 students from that centre were allowed to leave, while the rest were held back and instructed to solve the same incorrect paper.
Parental Concerns
A parent expressed distress, stating that invigilators forced students to keep writing without addressing their grievances. 'This caused immense mental trauma. It's exam season, and our children need to study. They were put through unnecessary trouble, which will impact their overall performance,' the parent said.
Faculty Criticism
Commerce faculty members criticised the NU exam section and the Board of Studies for the confusion. 'The root cause is frequent syllabus changes. Sometimes we are not informed by the Board of Studies, and paper setting gets affected. Fourth-semester students were taught at 6 am on the exam day because the syllabus was changed after summer exams started,' said a principal.
