UP BOARD: 5.5 LAKH DROP OUT OF 2018 EXAM
In what may be termed as the fallout of crack down on copying mafia in UP, a whopping 5.5 lakh candidates have opted out from final registration for 2018 UP Board examination.The dropouts are over and above the average number of 1.5 lakh students who skip registration each year due to various reasons such as failure in pre-board classes to family problems.
LAST YEAR, THE BOARD HAD INTRODUCED REFORMS LIKE CODED COPIES, STRICT EVALUATION AND CROSSCHECKING OF MARKS AWARDED BY EXAMINERS BY THEIR SUPERVISORS.
ALLAHABAD: In what may be termed as the fallout of crack down on copying mafia in Uttar Pradesh, a whopping 5.5 lakh candidates have opted out from final registration for the 2018 UP Board examination.
Each year, 1.5 lakh students on an average skip registration each year due to various reasons such as failure in pre-board classes to family problems.
Though board officials are yet to carry out an in-depth analysis of the figures, about 28-30% of such students are likely to be girls.
UP Board, one of the world’s largest examination bodies, has a system of advance registration for high school and intermediate exams in which students of class 9 and 11 need to register for class 10 and 12 board examinations.
“We have around 7 lakh dropouts among the students who had registered last year under advance registration system. Even if we deduct 1.5 lakh students who dropout every year, still there is a surge of almost 5.5 lakh students who will not register for the Board exams,” said a senior official in UP Board.
Students of flood-hit districts of the state have been provided extra time for registration but the UP Board officials have also taken these districts into account while coming to the figure of dropout students. The registration process will conclude on September 13.
Last year, the Board had introduced reforms like coded copies, strict evaluation and crosschecking of marks awarded by examiners by their supervisors.
The Board has also taken the process for appointing schools as board exam centres online this year which will also act as a deterrent for copying mafia.
Steps like doing away with the option of changing the names of parents or students and their date of birth at the time of registration has also helped in checking illegal practices.
“The copying mafia often resorted to advance registrations on fake names and details and then tailoring them in accordance with the details of clients with whom they struck a deal. At the time of final registrations, they got the changes made on the pretext of corrections,” an official said.
Secretary, UP Board, Neena Srivastava said an extraordinarily large number of class 9 and 11 students did not go for final registration.
“This includes a number of such individuals who had registered under fake names last year. They must have opted out as we are taking strict measures to check malpractices and ensure fair examinations,” she said.