The practice of attaching currency notes with answer sheets by students in a bid to influence examiners and obtain good marks in board exams is not uncommon in the state.

However, examiners checking Class X papers of this year’s Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) are surprised to come across notes of higher denomination, than they had seen in the past, inside the answer scripts.

“Last year, examiners checking mathematics copies found currency notes of Rs 100. But this year, they found Rs 500 notes inside the copies. At my centre, a co-examiner found currency notes of Rs 500 attached with 25 answer sheets of mathematics. BSEB pays Rs 10 for evaluating each copy. Examiners finding notes of such big denominations inside answer sheets are perplexed,” said Mohammad Mumtaz Alam, a teacher of Narayani Girls High School, Patna City who is checking English copies at one of the evaluation centres.

He added: “Many examiners are not divulging such findings to anybody. Fellow examiners sitting next to them are discussing the issue among themselves whenever they see such practices.”

Alam said currency notes of Rs 100 were found in many English answer scripts. “Obtaining pass marks in English is not mandatory for Class X students to clear their board exam. Even if a student fails in English but passes in other subjects, he or she passes in the examination. Despite this, many examinees are attaching currency notes with English answer sheets. This is surprising,” he said.

Trying to reason the trend, Alam added: “I guess students attaching money with their English answer sheets are the smart ones who realise that even if they get good marks in other subjects but fail in English, it will harm their future. Today, English has become one of the parameters to get quality jobs. Students fear that if they fail in English or do not get good marks, they might be rejected while appearing for a job interview.”

Panna Devi, who teaches Hindi at Sri Raghunath Hindu High School and is the head examiner at one of the evaluation centres in the state capital, said: “I found a currency note while checking answer sheets. My fellow examiners have also found money while checking papers. However, Hindi teachers like me do not find high denomination currency notes, unlike teachers of mathematics, science and social sciences. I found a Rs 20 note while checking a copy.”