Maharashtra’s Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) board exams got off to a bad start on Tuesday, with at least 42 cheating incidents reported by 19 centres. Despite measures to prevent it, including regular checks to prevent malpractices and paper leaks, cheating continued.
As per TOI report, there were 26 copying cases reported in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, eight in Pune, and three in Nashik. Sharad Gosavi, the chairman of the state board, stated that no cases were reported by the Mumbai, Kolhapur, or Konkan divisions on Tuesday.
Around 15 lakh students took the first exam at 3,373 locations across nine Maharashtra districts. However the widespread practice of cheating has raised questions about the integrity of the testing procedure.
The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) head, Sharad Gosavi, has promised that enquiries into the cheating incidents are ongoing. Gosavi stated that if the incidents were reported by centre supervisors, then further action might not have been necessary.
Strict and security measure
In the wake of the cheating incidents, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has issued strict measures to ensure transparency in the examination process. Exam centres engaging in mass copying will have their approval revoked permanently, Fadnavis said, and staff members and professors caught aiding students in cheating would be fired.
Fadnavis has also directed authorities to erect a 100-meter no-entry zone around all exam centres in order to keep unauthorised people out. These steps are intended to guarantee the integrity of the testing procedure and an equitable evaluation of student’s aptitudes.
