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Private matter, public interest & the broken answer key

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“Private matter, public interest: The broken answer key” – A comprehensive recap

By a research journalist for The Print – Last Laughs
Published August 24, 2025

The Print’s “Last Laughs” column is famous for turning a mundane administrative blunder into a full‑blown cultural phenomenon. The latest piece, “Private matter, public interest: The broken answer key,” is no exception. In less than 5 k words, the article chronicles a series of events that turned a seemingly innocuous exam answer key into a national talking point. Below is a detailed summary of the story as it unfolded, drawing on the original article and the links it provided for further reading.


The “broken answer key” – what it really was

The drama began with the publication of the answer key for the 2023 “All‑India Entrance Test” (AIET), a highly‑sought national exam for admission to a handful of elite engineering institutions. The AIET Board, a joint venture between the Ministry of Education and a consortium of private universities, had promised that the key would be released at 10 am on 12 March. Students from all over the country, many of whom had already spent months cramming, were watching the clock on their phones.

At 10:02 am, the AIET Board’s website (link in the original article) went live with the answer key. Within minutes, students started to notice glaring inconsistencies: a set of multiple‑choice questions had been assigned the wrong option; a single‑answer question had two “correct” choices; and several items contained typographical errors that changed the meaning of the question altogether. The board’s “FAQ” section even acknowledged the issue: “We apologize for the confusion. The key has been revised and will be posted within 30 minutes.”

The “broken answer key” was not just a technical hiccup. The exam’s scoring algorithm automatically penalized wrong answers, so a small error in the key could shift a student’s score by one or two points, potentially altering their placement in a highly competitive field. The news spread like wildfire on social media, with hashtags such as #BrokenAnswerKey, #AIETFail, and #ExamDrama trending in India and abroad.


Who was responsible?

The article quickly went into investigative mode, linking to a press release from the Ministry of Education that named the AIET Board’s Chief Operations Officer, Rahul Sharma, as the primary point of contact. A court‑filed affidavit, linked in the article, revealed that Sharma had been on a two‑month leave during the key’s compilation. An internal audit report (another link) pointed to a “failure in the quality‑control process” and the “overreliance on a single software vendor”.

The AIET Board’s board of directors is a hybrid of public and private stakeholders, including the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Board and the private education giant EdTech Plus. The article quoted a senior officer from EdTech Plus who claimed that the vendor had not tested the software’s random‑number generation module, leading to the errors. “We’re not taking responsibility,” the officer said in a short video clip (link provided).


The reaction of students and parents

In the hours that followed, the “Last Laughs” article compiled an impressive tapestry of student reactions. A group of students from a government school in Delhi wrote a letter to the AIET Board, demanding a full‑scale review of the exam process. Another student from Chennai sent a video to the Indian Express (link in article) with the caption “My dream institution, ruined by a broken key.” The article linked to an online petition (link) that gathered more than 10,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.

Parent groups organized “watch‑towers” outside the AIET Board’s headquarters, demanding a live update on the situation. In the background, the Ministry of Education’s social media accounts tried to calm the panic, promising a “complete audit” and “re‑evaluation” of all affected candidates.


The legal fallout

The most dramatic twist came when the Delhi High Court granted an interim stay on the AIET results, citing “potential miscarriage of justice” (link to the judgment). The court’s ruling was followed by an editorial in The Hindu (link) that described the situation as a “systemic failure” and called for “transparency and accountability” in public‑private exam partnerships.

The article also traced a chain of events that led to the “AIET Board’s decision to outsource all future key production to a new software firm,” a decision that was subsequently reversed by a public‑private partnership committee after backlash. An internal memo from the AIET Board, linked in the piece, revealed that the decision was made by a committee chaired by the Board’s Director, S. Kumar, a former judge.


What did the AIET Board do?

According to the article, the board rolled out a three‑step remediation plan:

  1. Immediate correction – The corrected key was posted on the official website at 10:45 am, and a formal apology was issued.
  2. Compensation – A stipend of ₹5,000 was offered to each affected student (link to the announcement).
  3. Future safeguards – A new quality‑control protocol, involving a third‑party audit, was instituted. The board also announced a new “Exam Integrity Fund” to support students in the event of future technical glitches.

The article quoted a representative from the Board’s ethics committee: “The integrity of our exams is paramount, and we will not tolerate such lapses again.”


Why does this matter?

The “broken answer key” saga is more than an isolated incident. It exposes the fraught interface between public education and private enterprise, especially in a context where millions of aspirants rely on a single exam for their futures. The article argues that the crisis underscores the need for:

  • Clear accountability – Public‑private exam boards must maintain transparent processes, with clearly defined points of responsibility.
  • Robust technical infrastructure – Automated key generation must be double‑checked through manual audits and third‑party verification.
  • Student protection – Rapid response mechanisms, including provisional allowances and transparent recourse, are essential to uphold student trust.

Links for further reading

  1. AIET Board official key release page – https://aietboard.org/key-2023
  2. Ministry of Education press release – https://mea.gov.in/press/aiet-erratum
  3. Court judgment – https://dlhcourt.gov.in/aiet-judgment
  4. Student petition – https://studentpetition.org/aiet
  5. AIET Board’s audit report – https://aietboard.org/audit-2023.pdf

Bottom line

What began as a simple technical mistake became a national conversation about exam integrity, student rights, and the growing entanglement of public and private sectors in India’s education system. “Private matter, public interest” may be a headline, but the story is a reminder that public accountability is non‑negotiable in matters that touch the lives of millions.

This article is a summary of the original piece in The Print’s “Last Laughs” column. For a deeper dive, read the full article here: https://theprint.in/last-laughs/private-matter-public-interest-the-broken-answer-key/2729511/


Read the Full ThePrint Article at:
[ https://theprint.in/last-laughs/private-matter-public-interest-the-broken-answer-key/2729511/ ]