Govt reviewing large-scale dropout in UP Board exams

LUCKNOW: The state government is reviewing the large-scale dropout of examinees in the ongoing UP Board examinations.

Nina Srivastava, secretary, UP Board, asked all district inspectors of schools (DIoS) in 75 districts of the state to encourage exam centre superintendents to upload the number of absent examinees on the Board’s website (upmsp.edu.in) half an hour after the day’s paper begins.

There are over 8,500 exam centres in UP. According to Board officials, at least 30% centres were not uploading the number of examinees skipping the examination.

In the first five days, a record 10.47 lakh examinees skipped the UP Board examinations. Of these, 6.24 lakh were from High School and 4.22 lakh Intermediate examinees.

“We are keeping a close watch on the increasing number of dropouts. They skipped the paper as UP Board has taken measures to put an end to copying, which was rampant in the past. This year, the Board has made use of CCTV cameras and sought help of Special Task Force of UP Police. This has kept copying mafia flee from exam centres,” said an official.

Deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma expressed satisfaction over the steps taken to check use of unfair means, saying the measures were aimed at reforming the examination system.

“Survey data suggests important reasons for poor learning levels and consequent high failure rate in board exams: low teacher effort (measured by high teacher absence rates), teachers’ low subject-matter knowledge (measured by high failure rates of teachers in the Teacher Eligibility Test), the no-detention policy of the Right to Education Act, and inadequate teaching time due to an inordinate number of holidays declared for populist reasons in the past,” said Professor Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, chair of Education Economics and International Development, Institute of Education, University College London (UCL).