More than 1.8 lakh students failed to appear for the Uttar Pradesh annual board examinations on Tuesday, 6 February, the first day of the exams.
The UP Board examinations for class X and class XII commenced on Tuesday and will continue till 12 March.
On the first day of examinations, over 1,80,826 students did not appear. It included over 53,100 high school and over 1.27 lakh intermediate students.Vikas Srivastava, Deputy Director, Education
Students Give Exams a Miss Due to the New Anti-Cheating Rules?
An official from the Education Department blamed the implementation of new anti-cheating measures initiated by the Yogi Adityanath government for the high number of non-appearing students.
The objective was "copying-free examinations,” UP Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma told PTI.
We have studied all the possible ways of using unfair means during the examinations. Those appearing in an exam impersonating someone else or involved in changing answer sheets before they reach evaluation centres will not be able to do so. Effective measures have been taken.Dinesh Sharma, Deputy Chief Minister, UP
What Are These Measures?
The measures, including the installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in exam halls and the use of inputs from a Special Task Force and local intelligence, were implemented to check the activities of the education mafia, Sharma added.
Other measures to prevent cheating include frisking students before they enter examination halls, dividing centres into sectors, appointing administrative officers as sector magistrates, and issuing prohibitory orders within 100 metres of the centre.
More Registrations, But Fewer Appearances
Only 81 percent of the 60 lakh students who appeared for the 2017 UP Board examinations cleared their examinations. Which means around 20 percent of students attempted, but failed to clear their examinations.
A total of 66,37,018 students were registered to appear for the 2018 exams. On the first day alone, there was a shortfall of 1.8 lakh students.
(With inputs from PTI)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)