Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): The Uttar Pradesh government under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has implemented strict measures to ensure that board examinations in the state are conducted without any unfair practices.
According to an official release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), "The Yogi government has implemented strict measures to ensure that board exams, starting in the state from February 22 are conducted without any cheating and unfair practices. From messaging apps to social media, the activities of unruly elements will be monitored."
"If anyone is found responsible for leaking question papers, parts of question papers, or their solutions for a subject before the exam, strict action will be taken against them under the relevant laws," it said.
The release further said that sensitive and highly sensitive examination centres and districts have been identified by the Secondary Education Council and special monitoring arrangements have been made through STF and local notification units to prevent any untoward incident.
"In addition, to control the possibility of cheating, question papers will be opened under the surveillance of CCTV cameras, and armed forces and live CCTV cameras have been arranged for 24-hour monitoring at collection centres and strong rooms. The inspections will be conducted by a special team," it added further.
"To ensure that anti-social elements or outsiders do not gather within a 100-meter radius of exam centres, the district administration has been instructed to take precautionary measures, including imposing Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code and other necessary precautions," said the release further.
Deepak Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary of Secondary Education, provided information regarding the board examinations in Lok Bhavan on Wednesday and mentioned that the board exams will be completed in a total of 12 working days this year in 2024.
He also mentioned that before the year 2017, it used to take more than a month to conduct these exams.
"In the high school board exams, a total of 29,47,311 students, including 15,71,184 boys and 1376127 girls, will appear. In the intermediate board exams, there will be a total of 25,77,997 students, including 14,28,323 boys and 1,149,676 girls. The combined total of examinees is 5,525,308, with 5,360,745 institutional and 164,563 private candidates," said the official.
He also explained that due to effective measures against cheating, 164,563 students registered as private candidates in 2024, compared to 353,106 in 2017.
Additionally, the number of candidates from other states appearing for the exam has dropped from 1,50,209 in 2017, to 4905 in the year 2024.
He informed that the determination of examination centres by the present government was made online through software, making full use of their holding capacities. Unlike before 2017 when there were more than 12,000 centres, the online centre allocation system has reduced the number of examination centres to 8,265 for the 2024 exams. This has made their supervision and inspection more efficient.
He said that the process adopted in the past years has been further strengthened to make the board exams fair and free from cheating. At the state level, Command and control centres have been established not only at the Directorate of Secondary Education in Lucknow but also at the Vidya Samiksha Kendra in Lucknow, Council Headquarters in Prayagraj, and 5 regional offices.
These centres will facilitate live monitoring of all examination centres and district-level control and monitoring centres in the state, he said.
Additional Chief Secretary mentioned that to promptly address the complaints of students and the general public, two helpline numbers (1800 180 6607/8) have been established. Additionally, two helpline numbers (1800 180 5310/12) are set up for resolving students' queries and providing counselling.
Similarly, at the district level, command and control centres, helplines, and other arrangements have been made. Through these, live monitoring of all examination centres in the district will be conducted.
He further informed that an administrative officer nominated by the District Magistrate has been deployed to operate the District Control Centre. Arrangements are also being made to take action under the relevant rules against the room invigilators and personnel who remain absent from their duties during board exams.
It is noteworthy that high school and intermediate institutional and private examinations are being conducted between February 22 and March 9 at 8265 examination centres in the state.
Special buses for board exams, uninterrupted power supply during the exam period, sanitation and sanitization of examination centres and surrounding areas, and emergency medical facilities for students and exam personnel are being arranged through coordination with various departments.
For the first time in the state, new measures regarding question paper handling, computerised identity cards, answer sheets and a quick response team have been implemented.
As per the release, all centre coordinators have been trained to ensure the proper handling of question papers and various aspects of exam administration. External centre coordinators and static magistrates have also been trained to clarify their responsibilities in exam supervision.
"Computerized identity cards containing secure QR codes and serial numbers have been issued to about 3.11 lakh room invigilators deployed in the examination halls," it said.
Apart from the QR code, serial number and logo on the cover page of the answer sheets, the council's logo on its inner page and the page number on each page along with stitched answer sheets in four different colours have been printed.
A Quick Response Team (QRT) has been constituted which will monitor and take prompt action against efforts to mislead the general public and tarnish the image of the government by spreading misleading news on social media, said the release.
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