Beautiful landscape, modern campus, and state-of-the-art infrastructure could not save a premium university when its examination papers were leaked on WhatsApp. The university had to immediately stop the examination across 135 of its affiliated colleges. This not only maligned its reputation but also caused great inconvenience to the students. In further awkwardness and a bolt to all and sundry, the university had to reschedule the entire logistics impacting thousands of students, hundreds of teachers, and invigilators.

At the end of this giant mess, the university or law agency could not establish much trail of the leak. No one could specifically ascertain what led to the leakage or how the question papers were accessed or distributed! The university examination was crucial for students hoping to secure a graduate degree under various streams. Though the university replaced the question paper with a new version at a later date, understandably, there was widespread anger and frustration due to the leakage of the question paper. No one likes re-examination and a late session completion.

Recurring leakage…making a mockery of the traditional education system

This breach is just one example of what we may call an endless spree of heists in the education space. So much so, now newspapers have exclusive sections around ‘exam leaks.’ Every day, we wake up to reports of such horror stories. Authorities are extremely concerned. There is much at stake – brand’s equity, students’ future, and even the country’s future too. When we have such glaring skill gap1 to deal with, can we really afford to let loose undeserving, underprepared students to the workforce? Aren’t we doing a disservice to the deserving? Isn’t a strong and secure education ecosystem key to our nation’s development?

The industry wants to address such vulnerabilities that allow question papers to be stolen and rapidly distributed through different mediums. Managements have vowed to strengthen alternate security measures to counter these vulnerabilities. There are reports of state governments installing security cameras2, engaging crime branch and criminal investigation departments3. In 2016, the University Grants Commission (UGC), a Government of India statutory body directed central universities with a new policy to install jammers around the college premises4, “for the purpose of combatting the menace of unfair means used during the conduct of the examination in universities and colleges.” Though all these measures worked to some extent in isolation, a holistic, 360-degree solution was required to bring in the much-desired clarity and authenticity to make our education ecosystem leakproof.

Bringing it all: Transparency, security, surveillance, and intelligence

From the education ministry5 to educationists, from universities and industries; powerful voices from politics6, corporate7, and academia are recognizing the need to adopt a policy of transparency in the examination system. It is apparent that the current system is in shambles! Investigations are repeatedly revealing how a nexus of officials from academia to the treasury to administration are compromising the examination system.

With an objective to breathe new life into the burgeoning menace and the nexus around it, MeritTrac envisioned a water-tight solution many years ago. To enable transparency, enhance security, and encrypt question papers, it launched Just-in-Time Question Papers (JIT-QP), a futuristic solution to usher in a complete overhaul in the examination system.