While parents mobbed the exam centres to supply answers to their wards, chits were openly circulated and answers to some of the questions were dictated to the students reportedly by the staff on duty. Sources said many students were even seen carrying pages torn from help books in their pockets and fearlessly referring to them during the exam.

They maintained that a portion of English grammar, worth around 20 marks, was dictated to students in some examination centres in Verka, Jethuwal, Fatehgarh Shukarchak, Mudhal and other places.

“We would not have been able to write the test without this help,” said Sukhmanjit Singh, a student. He added that no flying squads were around to check them. “We could not help but cheat as English is not our first language and our teachers are busy with other duties for most part of the year and hardly have time to teach us properly,” said Harsimran Kaur, another student.

Copying was also reported in Gurdaspur, Sri Hargobindpur, Dera Baba Nanak, Mirthal, Ghuman and Mirpur (near the border). Sources said only six flying squads had been deployed for the 357 exam centres in Gurdaspur district.

“There were no signs of a flying squad, while cops posted on exam duty also did not arrive in time and appeared lax,” said Anuradha, an English teacher in a school in Verka.

Simranjit Kaur, another teacher, added that utter chaos prevailed in the examination centres in the absence of proper seating arrangements for students.