Another paper leak? FTII orders re-exam for the joint entrance test, students protest

AMid the on-going NEET paper leak out and CBSE division 12 on-screen scoring (OSM) scheme controversy, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Pune is also conducting a re-test for its entrance exam.While FTII has said the re-test was necessitated by “significant operational disruptions at the Delhi centre” during the original entrance exam held on April 26, students have claimed that the paper was leaked.Several videos on social media show students claiming that they got “photocopies” of question papers at the Delhi centre after a significant delay in the exam.In one of the videos, associate professor Mandar Digrajkar, the Head of the Animation and Visual Effects Design Department at FTII, who was an observer at the Begumpur centre in Delhi, is seen telling students that the exam has been cancelled and information about the re-test will be given.When asked why the exam had to be cancelled, Professor Digrajkar declined to provide a reason, as the video shows.Students' association condemns 'gross misconduct'The FTII students' association released a statement on social media, condemning what it called “gross misconduct and mismanagement” in the conduct of the entrance exam.“It has been brought to the notice of the Film and Television Institute of India Students' Association that the integrity of the FTII Entrance Test 2025-2026 has been compromised across multiple exam centres. FTIISA Students' Association vehemently condemns the gross misconduct and mismanagement that have been reported and documented, and ensures the cooperation of the entire student body at FTII to bring a fair resolution to this matter,” the statement read.Re-exam orderedOn April 30, FTII announced a nationwide re-examination after the cancellation of the original exam. The re-test will be conducted on July 12.According to the order, candidates who appeared in the April 26 exam can change their exam centre for the re-test through the FTII portal from May 25.The FTII JET admit card 2026 will be available for download from June 26, 2026, onwards.The NEET paper leak and the CBSE rowOn May 12, the National Testing Agency (NTA) cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG, that had been conducted on May 3 for admissions to medical courses, following a paper leak under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).As for CBSE, the board introduced OSM at scale for Class 12 this year, replacing the system of posting physical answer books to examiners with a more tech-focused system of scanned copies evaluated on a screen.The CBSE has maintained that the system improves transparency and cuts totalling errors.But after results were declared in mid-May, the Class 12 pass percentage fell to a seven-year low, and students who applied for re-evaluation began reporting blurred scans, missing pages, unevaluated answers and, in some cases, answer sheets that were not theirs.The CBSE issued a statement defending the OSM as "fair, transparent and equitable". It reiterated that re-evaluation could be sought. Of the 98.6 lakh answer books evaluated, CBSE's own figures showed 68,018 needed rescanning for poor image quality, and 13,583 were checked manually after scans failed.When it all blew up, CBSE admitted the errors and said the identified vulnerabilities had been "contained”. It said a cybersecurity team from the government and the IITs had been deployed to fortify the system.