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Maharashtra Education Board to Revise Number of Exam Centres


AURANGABAD:
Taking a cue from the mismanagement at exam centres inconveniencing students and to check cases of mass copying, the education board has decided to cut down on the number of exam centres from next year. Sukhdeo Dere, divisional chairman of Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) said that the steps would be taken considering last year's incident of mass copying which had occurred of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC, Class XII) exams in February this year, when the police found teachers writing the answer papers for the English exams at Telwadi high school in Kannad taluka of Aurangabad district. The school was allotted as an exam centre with around 319 students appearing for exams. Dere said another incident occurred in March, when board officials cracked down on a city school for accommodating excess number of students. As per norms, only one student can occupy a bench during the exam.

 

"Some schools were better equipped to be exam centres as it had better student accommodation capacity. But, other schools in the vicinity were chosen for the purpose. It was therefore decided to identify such schools," Dere said. He added that a meeting has been called with the taluka chief and education officers from across all levels to inform them about these centres and revise the number. The class X exam was held in around 517 centres in the Marathwada region, while Class XII exams were held in around 322 centres across the division. The education department also found a school with CCTV cameras installed, where the principal could monitor activity in every classroom. "Such schools will be identified as centres. Other schools with a better student accommodating capacity will be chosen to reduce the number of centres which are sensitive and ensure better administration among board officials," he said. Dere added that unlike last year, the department would also make sure that exam centres were easily accessible, with better connectivity like public transport. The board plans to make these changes from HSC and SSC examination scheduled to be held in 2015.

Posted on 01 May 2014