2 weeks Ago
Pune: As many as 449 cheating incidents were reported in the Secondary School Certificate (standard X) and Higher Secondary Certificate (standard XII) board examinations conducted by Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education in Feb-March this year, board officials said. The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division registered the highest number of malpractices — 251 — in Maharashtra. However, the cases dropped significantly compared to last year — a decline of 70% in SSC and 20% in HSC exams respectively, a feat authorities attributed to strict vigilance and monitoring.
Before the start of the exams, the state board invested at least two months to plan and take measures against copying, officials said. "It launched a campaign to curb malpractices. In a meeting chaired by chief secretary, directives were given for effective implementation of the campaign.
Accordingly, district administrations monitored sensitive exam centres using drone cameras, conducted audiovisual recording outside centres, and deployed flying and sitting squads," Sarat Gosavi, chairman of state board, said. Besides, authorities implemented face verification of centre directors, supervisors, and all examination-related personnel, and filed complaints against those facilitating malpractices. A comparison of statistics shows a substantial decrease.
In 2024, as many as 299 cases of malpractice were reported in the SSC examination against 90 cases this year. In the HSC examination, 452 cases were recorded last year, while 360 cases were reported this year. Excluding the Covid-19 years of 2021 and 2022, malpractice cases were found in the exams held in Feb-March 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 and 2024.
So, in 2025, the appointment of centre directors, supervisors, and exam-related personnel were made from teachers and staff of other schools/higher secondary schools, Gosavi said. "For the Feb-March 2025 SSC and HSC exams, any exam centre found involved in cheating will have its exam centre approval permanently revoked from the following year," the chairman said. As many as 271 flying squads were appointed across the state this year, he said.
"In addition, vigilance committees under the chairmanship of the district collector, along with special flying squads, were set up in each district.".
