In a shocking incident, a class VII question paper prepared by the Bihar Education Board has claimed that Kashmir is not a part of India, but a separate country. The error came to light after it was highlighted by a student from Vaishali on Tuesday.
The examination, which is being conducted under the Centre’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, commenced on October 5 and will end on Wednesday. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is administered in the state by the Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC) – a wing of the state education department.
As per the reports, the question paper, prepared by the state board, has questioned class VII students across all government schools to name what the people of five countries including China, Nepal, England, Kashmir, and India, are called.
Post the incident came to light, Sangeeta Sinha, the Vaishali district education officer, told The Times of India that she was on leave when the incident happened. Now, she will look into the matter as soon as possible.
However, BEPC state programme officer, Prem Chandra accepted the mistake terming it as ’embarrassing’ and claimed it to be a printing error. But, sources in the education department told TOI that BEPC examinations question papers are prepared centrally. However, their printing is carried out at multiple locations.
