Over 58 lakh students have registered for the Uttar Pradesh Board exam scheduled to be held in February next year, according to Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma. He said the UP Board exam will begin on February 7, and will be conducted in the next 16 working days. Mr Sharma, who also holds the portfolio of secondary and higher education, told PTI here in an interview that if the exams are held in a shorter duration, it will also lead to cutting the cost incurred in conducting them.
The Adityanath government, the minister also said, has taken a lot of steps to check cheating in exams.
A new software has been designed and according to the minister a four-step process initiated to check the menace of copying in the Uttar Pradesh board exams of both Class 10 (also known as matric) and Class 12 (also known as intermediate).
The examination centres which reported maximum cases of cheating in the past, will be strictly monitored, he said.
"At sensitive exam centres, Aadhaar of students has been linked with registration. However, not every centre across the state has been linked to Aadhaar. A district-wise list of suspicious centres has also been prepared," he said.
Mr Sharma said copying was so rampant in the past that students from specific states were kept together at one exam centre.
"At these centres, stringent measures were initiated to ensure that use of unfair means dos not take place. Last year, strict vigil was maintained on suspicious centres.
"As a result, 67 persons were arrested from a place. A press printing answer sheets was unearthed in Jaunpur, while a gang involved in leakage of question paper was busted in Hardoi. Impersonators were caught in Kaushambi and Aligarh," he said.
"There were large-scale irregularities involved in setting up of an examination centre. Now schools desirous of becoming exam centres have to apply online and submit details of facilities. The software will choose the centre while keeping in mind laid down parameters and criteria.
Elaborating on the steps taken in the education sector, he said the government has opened 205 new schools in the last one year, and teachers have been appointed. Of these 205 new secondary schools, as many as 166 are model schools, he said. Mr Sharma said from the next academic year, one adarsh vidyalaya (model school) will be opened in every division of the state.
"Owing to efforts of the UP government", Mr Sharma also said, "use of unfair means has stopped, and the number of students studying in government schools has increased by 18-20 per cent".
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