UP Board’s HS, Inter exams begin amid tight security
Over 4.18 lakh skip the exams on Day 1 itself
PRAYAGRAJ: UP Board’s High School and Intermediate examinations 2022 began at 8,373 centres spread across the 75 districts of the state amidst tight security, on Thursday. Interestingly, over 4.18 lakh students skipped the exam on the first day.
As many as 254 exam centres of the state were dubbed ‘very sensitive’ and 861 as ‘sensitive’ and the state government had deputed police as well as personnel of the local intelligence unit (LIU) and special task force (STF) of the state police to thwart any effort to undermine the smooth and fair conduct of the exams.
On the first day, High School students took the Hindi and Elementary Hindi examination while Intermediate students took the Military Science examination conducted in the morning shift from 8am to 11.15 am. In the second shift, from 2pm to 5.15 pm, Intermediate examinations in Hindi and General Hindi were held.
According to reports received at the UP Board headquarters from the 75 districts of the state, as many as 2,61,128 students skipped the exam in the first shift itself. In the second shift also, as many as 1,57,387 lakh students skipped the exam. As a result, in both shifts, a total of 4,18,507 skipped the exams, informed Divyakant Shukla, secretary, UP Board.
Four FIRs were registered against nine fake (impersonating) candidates including four at Prayagraj, two each at Ghazipur and Fatehpur besides one at Gonda, the official shared.
They said that 23 students were caught using unfair means during the two shifts, including 16 boys and four girls of High School, and two boys and one girl of Intermediate.
He said that the exam passed off peacefully in all districts on the first day and no report of any major untoward incident was received from anywhere in the state.
Static magistrates and police personnel were deployed at all centres to ensure a peaceful and fair examination.
Senior officers of the education department remained on their toes as supervisors in all districts of the state.
UP Board has deputed 1.16 lakh centre superintendents and additional centre superintendents and invigilators for the exam this time.
In a new move, the board is taking attendance of exam room invigilators online. Online monitoring of the exam centres is also being done from the control room set up in the district inspector of schools’ offices, besides the central state-level control room in Lucknow.
In Lucknow, additional chief secretary (secondary education) Aradhana Shukla inspected Sunni Inter College during the first shift of the exam and found certain irregularities including examinees being made to take exams without their shoes in violation of instructions.
She also found the box that was to be kept at the gate for invigilators to keep their mobile phones in, inside the principal’s office. The ACS also found each exam hall following its own set of norms instead of adhering to the set norms of the government.
In light of the anomalies, the principal in-charge of the school, Shakeel Ahmad, was removed from the post of exam centre superintendent and the senior-most lecturer of the school was handed over charge, informed Amar Kant Sinha, DIOS, Lucknow.