The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education stepped up the anti-cheating drive, to keep away local interference at centres in state.
After starting a strict anti-copying campaign across the state during the SSC and HSC examinations, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) is planning tougher measures to ensure that there is no cheating in the next board examinations.
The board has decided to relocate examination centres where students are more likely to cheat.
This year, compared to the earlier examinations, the overall pass percentage of students appearing for SSC and HSC examinations dipped in the state. Maharashtra’s pass percentage dipped to 65.61% compared to 72.17% last year — a fall of 6.56%. One reason for the fall in pass percentage was the strict implementation of the anti-cheating campaign.
The board authorities had a meeting three days ago at their headquarters in Pune where it was decided to relocate the examination centres. Among those who attended the meeting were officials from MSBSHSE’s eight divisions — Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Amravati, Latur and Nasik.
Of the 3719 centres for SSC exams in the state, 305 are in the Mumbai division. Mumbai also has 171 of the 2058 HSC examination centres in the state.
The objective of the plan to relocate centres is to keep away local goons and politicians who help students cheat in the examinations. Also they want the centre to be in a noise-free environment and equipped with basic amenities like electricity, toilets and water.
“We want to take the anti-cheating campaign to the next level. During the meeting, it was pointed out that some centres are under the influence of local residents, hence we decided on the relocation,” said Ujwala Patil, chairperson, MSBSHSE.
Also the move will prohibit the current practise where schools give out their halls, grounds and premises on rent for marriages and other occasions to generate revenue. She added, “The centre should be convenient and hassle free for student and authorities should be able to easily monitor all activities at the center. We want cheating free examination in the state”.
According to experts, after implementing the strict anti-cheating campaign across the state, divisions that had showed good pass percentages earlier fared poorly. This year, the board set up a local vigilance committees comprising parents, social activists, local NGOs, police officers and education department officials to keep a watch on exam centres and report suspicious activities. The board increased the number of flying squads.
Amravati division is the best example of the anti cheating campaign success. The success rate of the division had been rising steadily since the last three years — from 76.75% in 2008, to 83.19% and 86.16% in 2009 and 2010 respectively, before nose diving to 43.32% this year.
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