The NEET UG 2024 exam was put at risk due to the question paper leak, with the CBI arresting several school administrators, answering rings and other actors who sourced and shared the exam papers with students through social media. Legal action, including involvement of the Supreme Court, is aimed at investigating the impact and may lead to a reinvestigation if the question paper leak is found to be large-scale. With over 2.3 million candidates affected, students and their families have intensified their efforts to fight for justice. The issue has raised serious concerns about the integrity of such important exams conducted in the country and has called for stricter preventive measures.
Can blockchain technology prevent or reduce alarming instances of document leaks like those in NEET-UG and UGC-NET? Experts say it can, especially when it comes to increasing transparency regarding the conduct of such competitive exams.
Common causes of exam question leaks identified in CBI investigations into recent cases include internal corruption, hacking by cybercriminals, and theft of exam questions at storage facilities or during transport. Experts News18 spoke to said blockchain systems could be the way forward. While blockchain technology cannot completely stop exam question leaks, experts argue that by identifying the source of the leak, it can ensure a fairer and smoother process.
How can blockchain help in the conduct of exams?
According to Vikram R. Singh, Managing Director, EduBlock Pro, the promise of blockchain technology is to eliminate third parties and middlemen. “This ensures that all transactions and records are recorded securely within one platform. Candidates become stakeholders in the value chain and exam papers are locked until their private key is applied, thus ensuring security,” he said. EduBlock is a registered education technology company that aims to revolutionize exam management through its innovative blockchain solutions.
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According to EduBlock Pro, blockchain technology helps implement sequential encryption and real-time exam paper generation and printing. This includes asymmetric signature encryption, sequential encryption, multi-party computation and randomized exam paper setter. “The leaking of NEET exam papers is a serious issue that will affect the careers of many students. Blockchain technology eliminates third-party intervention and allows machines to handle the process securely and transparently,” Singh explained, adding that it will work for online, offline and hybrid exams.
Blockchain-powered platform EduBlockPro says its technology secures every step of the exam process, from creating questions to distributing them to students on exam day. The system allows for secure operations such as registering users and exams, and encrypting and decrypting exam papers. Exam boards are responsible for setting up, announcing and managing the exams (including locking them, creating question paper sets and allocating exam centers).
A public-private key infrastructure allows secure interaction between students, collaborators and proctors through paper decryption and distribution. Verifiers ensure the accuracy of the question sets, and test centers manage the delivery of decrypted question papers on the day of the exam. Students, administrators and proctors enter the keys for the data packages containing the questions, and question papers are printed in real time.
Ashutosh Bhatia, associate professor at the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems at BITS Pilani, explained that blockchain technology can help in tracking down the source of any document leaks. “Rather than stopping leaks directly, introducing blockchain technology into the process can make it fairer and leak-free,” he said.
“The introduction of blockchain technology in the examination process will prevent leaks by ensuring that every event in the exam chain, right from setting of exam questions to distribution, is recorded in a secure ledger and made unalterable. Further, it will enable traceable delivery of exam questions in case of a leak and help investigating authorities identify and assess the scope of any regional or global leak. Thus, blockchain will ensure accountability and transparency to create a more robust and reliable examination system,” Bhatia told News18.
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Praneet Mungari, educationist and director of Sanskriti Group of Schools, Pune, agrees: “The architecture behind blockchain technology makes it nearly impossible to hack, which is why it is also called the ‘immutable ledger’. Using blockchain technology to secure digital assets like exam questions creates a much more robust digital environment,” he said.
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain is essentially a distributed digital ledger that uses cryptography to securely store and verify data across a network of computers. Blockchain consists of blocks of data linked in a chain, with each block containing a timestamp, transaction data, and a cryptographic hash of the previous block.
Blocks are linked in a way that makes it difficult to alter or insert blocks, and each new block strengthens the validation of the previous block. This makes the blockchain immutable, or unchangeable, and creates a consistent record of transactions that all network members can trust.
A blockchain database can be shared across an entire computer network. “Once a record is added to the chain, it is extremely difficult to change, and the network constantly checks to ensure all copies of the database are identical. Blockchains have been used to underpin cybercurrencies like Bitcoin, but they are also intended for a variety of other uses,” according to a June 2018 Reuters report.
Conventional technology and blockchain
EduBlock Pro said the current system is vulnerable to data breaches and tampering as it relies on centralized servers and databases, which control the exam process and results, making the entire process vulnerable to tampering.
Prof Vidhu Shekhar, assistant professor of finance and economics at SPJIMR, said blockchain’s access control, secure storage, tamper-proof and tamper-evident nature makes it suitable for large-scale testing processes.
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“Exam questions can be encrypted and stored on the blockchain, making them difficult to gain unauthorized access. Students can access the questions at the time of the exam using a private key, and exam center officials can use a private key to print the questions at a specific time. Distribution of exam questions can also be tracked and recorded on the blockchain,” he explained.
Moreover, implementing blockchain technology will not pose any major challenges as it will require updating the current system. “The approach reduces operational complexities before and after the exam by removing the middleman and designing question papers in a stand-alone format and printing them in real time. For example, a proof-of-concept test conducted with the Punjab government involved 300 students and was seamless, showing that it is scalable,” Singh told News18, adding that the cost of implementing the new system should not exceed the current operational costs. The new technology will help reduce paper transportation and printing costs, he added.
Praneet Mungari, educationist and director of Sanskriti Group of Schools, Pune, agrees: “The architecture behind blockchain technology makes it nearly impossible to hack, which is why it is also called the ‘immutable ledger’. Using blockchain technology to secure digital assets like exam questions creates a much more robust digital environment,” he said.
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain is essentially a distributed digital ledger that uses cryptography to securely store and verify data across a network of computers. Blockchain consists of blocks of data linked in a chain, with each block containing a timestamp, transaction data, and a cryptographic hash of the previous block.
Blocks are linked in a way that makes it difficult to alter or insert blocks, and each new block strengthens the validation of the previous block. This makes the blockchain immutable, or unchangeable, and creates a consistent record of transactions that all network members can trust.
A blockchain database can be shared across an entire computer network. “Once a record is added to the chain, it is extremely difficult to change, and the network constantly checks to ensure all copies of the database are identical. Blockchains have been used to underpin cybercurrencies like Bitcoin, but they are also intended for a variety of other uses,” according to a June 2018 Reuters report.
Conventional technology and blockchain
EduBlock Pro said the current system is vulnerable to data breaches and tampering as it relies on centralized servers and databases, which control the exam process and results, making the entire process vulnerable to tampering.
Prof. Vidhu Shekhar, assistant professor of finance and economics at SPJIMR, said blockchain’s access control, secure storage, tamper-proof and tamper-evident nature makes it suitable for large-scale testing processes.
