A section of the television media seems to have found a convenient pattern to reporting on public examinations, especially when it comes to the Bihar School Examination Board.

As soon as a topper is declared, the idea seems to be to rush to them to quiz them on their “subject matter”. We saw this last year with Ruby Rai could not answer “basic questions” much to the horror of TV reporters, and this year it’s Ganesh Kumar. It is not as if there isn’t a problem here. Both Rai and Kumar do indeed seem too clueless to be topping the BSEB but they are, at the end of the day, products of a broken education system.

What’s worrying is how instead of looking into the failings of the Board and indeed the exam and education system, TV reports have focussed their energies on making fun of the likes of Kumar, who has now been arrested for allegedly faking his age.

Sample this report by Zee News that uses smileys and sound effects to essentially poke fun at Kumar and his lack of knowledge.

Watch from 0:35 to 1:11.

ABP News made Kumar give a practical exam on live television with the channel proudly stating that they fielded 40 questions to him, meanwhile, Aaj Tak went with the ticker “Jiya Ho Bihar Ke Topper”.