With the state board of education cracking the whip on cheating in board examinations, there has been a record 400 FIRs registered against teachers, supervisors and exam co-ordinators in cheating-related cases for the SSC and HSC exams this year
With the state board of education cracking the whip on cheating in board examinations, there has been a record 400 FIRs registered against teachers, supervisors and exam co-ordinators in cheating-related cases for the SSC and HSC exams this year, as reported in the Times of India.
The exams are not yet over and this figure was collated on Wednesday, before the SSC math paper, in which cheating is rampant.
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"The number of FIRs registered for cheating were fewer last year,'' says Vijaysheela Sardesai, chairman of the Maharashtra state board of education.
FIRs are not registered against students caught copying, as the government feels this would be too harsh a step to take and would ruin their careers. Instead, it is registered against teachers and officials at exam centres who either aid or allow copying at the centre.
With four days left for the SSC exam to end and two days for the HSC paper, 2,194 SSC students and 2,445 HSC students across Maharashtra have already been caught copying in their exams as of Wednesday evening.
This year, the process of invigilation has been streamlined during the board exams. Senior government officials, including district collectors across Maharashtra, have been asked to supervise the board exams, which has helped to reduce malpractice during the board examinations.
"Over a period of time, the centres notorious for cheating have been identified and board officials have been told to pay frequent visits there,'' said state education minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil.
The board called for heightened vigilance during the SSC math papers on Thursday and Friday. Flying squads have been asked to visit several 'high-risk' SSC centres. In addition, the board has even sent out sitting squads, that consist of officials who willu00a0remain at one particular centre all through the exam in order to ensure that nothing goes
wrong.
"I received a call from the board early on Thursday morning asking me not to go to the schools I was originally supposed to go to, but instead, to visit a fresh set of centres where cheating was known to occur. I saw the students being frisked and their bags checked before the paper. The exam went off smoothly,'' said Fr Francis Swamy, a member of the state board.
Statewide data on cheating for the board exams this year (Figures till Wednesday)
> No. of FIRs registered against teachers, supervisors and co-ordinators for allowing cheating: 400
> No. of students caught cheating in SSC exams: 2,194
> No. of students caught copying in HSC exams: 2,445
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