Mass copying reported at HSC exam centre in Kannad

19 employees to be suspended

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A group of staff members of an HSC centre were found helping students for malpractice at Rashtriay Uchha Madhyamik Vidyalaya at Jaitapur in Kannad tehsil of the district on Tuesday.

It may be noted that the installation of CCTV cameras was mandatory at all the examination centres in the State to curb malpractice during the examination. The cameras were connected to the monitoring room of the education department of the district.

During the footage, it was found that the staff included a supervisor, teachers and employees who were providing answers to the questions to the students. Many students were sitting on each other's benches and writing answers en masse. A team of secondary education officers, led by Ashwini Lathkar, reached the centre and found 9 papers with the same answers.

So, the team scanned the CCTVs in the classroom. As per the orders of the district collector and the vigilance committee, action was initiated to register a case against 19 employees of the centre.

The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education started holding the HSC examination today. The students took the English subject paper on the first day.

A total of 327 students were present at 14 examination halls of Rashtriya Uchha Madhyamik Vidyalaya at Jaitapur in Kannad tehsil today. The halls had CCTVs installed as per the order of the Board. A team of Education Officer Lathkar and Extension Officer Sitaram Pawar reached the centre.

While inspecting the halls, the team found 9 papers with same answers. Smelling a rat, she ordered the centre director to inspect the CCTV. When the inspection was carried out, teachers were found giving answers to students in many examination halls.

She informed the district Deelip Swami, chief executive officer of Zilla Parishad, Ankit and divisional president of the State Board, Anil Sable. It was decided to initiate strict action against the concerned. A total of 19 teachers and employees appointed at the examination centre will be suspended.

Orders were given to the Kannad Bloc Education Officer to lodge a complaint at the Kannad Police Station against 19 employees involved in the malpractice at the Jaitapur examination centre. Accordingly, the process of registering the cases was going on till late at night. While action has been proposed against 19 employees appointed at the examination centre, the entire staff has been replaced immediately.