19% dip in cheating cases during exams this year, says Haryana board

ROHTAK: Despite some unusual cases of cheating being reported during the Class 10 and 12 board exams conducted by the Board of School Education Haryana (BSEH), the board witnessed a dip in the number of cheating cases this year.

The board exams ended on Thursday with 3,602 cases of cheating being reported this year.

As per data provided by BSEH spokesman Meenakshi, the number of cheating cases detected in 2019 was 4,430 and 5,048 in 2018.

In 2017, the number was even higher at 5,265.

Last year, exams could not be conducted due to Covid-19 and the half of the exams could not be conducted in 2020 due to the pandemic and thus, cases of cheating could not be ascertained.

The board spokesman said they have detected 31 cases of cheating using mobile phone and 10 cases using other electronic gadgets.

“An examination superintendent, a deputy superintendent, 114 observers, five clerks and a security guard were relieved from duty due to negligence during the board exams. We re-conducted Class 10 and 12 exams at 32 centres each on April 22 and April 28, respectively,” she added.

She said friends and relatives of students were found throwing answer-chits inside the exam centre by climbing the boundary walls of the schools at many places in Haryana during the board exams.

Taking serious note of cheating and other unfair means incidents during the board exams, the BSEH had barred teachers deputed on exam duty from keeping mobile phones during exam hours.

During the board exams this year, Rohtak police had arrested four employees, including a school principal for providing solved papers to Class 10 students inside an exam centre at Chidi village.

Police had also recovered a computer, a printer-cum-photostat machine with solved paper along with a question paper from the school premises of the exam centre.

Also, a Class 10 student was caught red-handed by the flying squad of the BSEH for cheating during the English examination at Government Senior Secondary School in Fatehabad’s Bhuthan exam hall. The student was using a glass clip board with a mobile phone stuck to its middle and had opened many applications, including WhatsApp on it.

The authorities had also recovered a dummy gun from two youths who were throwing answer-chits to their relatives at an exam centre in Jhajjar’s Bahadurgarh.

AS PER DATA PROVIDED BY BOARD OF SCHOOL EDUCATION HARYANA SPOKESMAN MEENAKSHI, THE NUMBER OF CHEATING CASES DETECTED IN 2019 WAS 4,430 AND 5,048 IN 2018. IN 2017, THE NUMBER WAS EVEN HIGHER AT 5,265