HSC exam centre staff to face action along with students for malpractice in Sambhajinagar

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: With HSC exams scheduled to begin from Feb 10, the education department officials of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar have warned that along with the students involved in malpractices, officers and employees who assisted, neglected, or deliberately ignored such activities will also face action.Ashwini Lathkar, the education officer (secondary) with Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar zilla parishad, said the enabling provisions of the Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices at University, Board and other Specified Examinations Act, 1982, as well as the established disciplinary guidelines will be invoked against those indulging in malpractices and also against those supporting it directly or indirectly."No leniency will be shown to anyone. We are implementing multi-faceted and stringent measures to ensure that the Class XII examinations are conducted in a completely malpractice-free, fear-free, and transparent environment," she said.Around 65,516 students will appear for the HSC board exams across 159 examination centres in the district between Feb 10 and March 18. Of these, seven examination centres were declared sensitive, and the centre directors, supervisors, and the entire examination staff at these centres were replaced with completely new staff."This year, the flying squads will conduct checks during the examination using a new token system. Students will be given tokens in groups, and thorough inspections will be conducted in each examination hall," Lathkar said.Authorities said CCTV cameras must be operational in every room of all examination centres. "This year, full-time video recording will be conducted at 100 selected examination centres. At all other examination centres, the CCTV footage will be collected from the centre directors via pen drives after the examinations gets over," Lathkar said.The district administration said that prohibitory orders will be in effect throughout the examination period covering premises of all examination centres, and unauthorized gatherings, suspicious activities, or pressure tactics will not be tolerated."A control room and examination war room will be operational at the district level, and direct monitoring of each examination centre will be conducted through virtual meetings. At sensitive centres, drone cameras, special flying squads, and regular stationary teams will be deployed from the start to the end of the examinations," authorities said. A district-level vigilance committee headed by district collector Deelip Swami will be operational to ensure that the Class XII examinations are conducted in a free and fair manner.