Frisk students before exams: state board

With around 60 cases of copying reported every year, the state board now wants supervisors to frisk the SSC and HSC students before they enter the examination hall.

Dr Basanti Roy, divisional secretary, Mumbai, Maharashtra Boards of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, said, "Teachers will be held accountable if students are caught copying. The supervisors have enough time to frisk students before the exams start. It is not so strenuous a job, as two teachers can easily frisk a class of 25. One can have male and female teachers who can frisk the students of their sex."

Roy added that the state board has also instructed the flying squad to conduct surprise checks. If students are found copying, the supervisor will be held responsible. However, teachers are not happy with the decision.

"It is not possible to frisk each and every student. We are going one step behind. We need to reevaluate our way of evaluating. Why can't we have the same pattern that we had earlier of having open books in the examination hall?" asked Father Jeud Fernandez, principal of Stanislaus School in Bandra.u00a0

The state board has decided to take strict action this year. "These moves are made in order to curb such practices in future. This will create a fear in the minds of students and also among teachers who will be extra vigilant during the examination," added Roy. Around 3 lakh students willu00a0appear for the HSC exams on February 26, while over 2.5 lakh students take the SSC exams on March 3.

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