Board chairman credits helpline for the improvement, lauds counsellors for handling panicking students well
The end of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams has brought relief and good news. There were fewer copying cases reported in Mumbai division despite an additional 10,000 students appearing for their exams this year.
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According to Board officials, only 43 copying cases were reported this year as compared to 51 cases last year. While 39 cases were picked out by flying squads, invigilators at exam centres reported the remaining four cases.
“Special efforts were taken to curb copying cases,” said Board chairman Laxmikant Pande. “Except for a paper leak issue at an exam centre in Ambernath, no other major cases were reported.” He credited the counsellors manning the Board helpline for the achievement and said that they played a crucial role in helping students keep their fears at bay.
“Students generally copy or indulge in other malpractices when they feel that they are not well prepared for exams. To instill confidence in the students, the counselors were continuously guiding them to write all that they know in their exam papers rather than worry about the part of the syllabus that they were not able to cover,” he said. There were no proxy cases wherein a different person gives the exam instead of the real examinee — reported this year in the Mumbai division as well.
Re-exam rumours
The rumour regarding the HSC Physics paper re-examination had kept the board helpline number busy for a few days and many SSC students with genuine queries were finding it difficult to get through to the counsellors.
A few common problems faced by students included losing their hall tickets, or calling the helpline with the same queries more than once. The helpline also handled students in a state of panic as they thought that they had not done well in their papers. The Board helpline, which started operating from February 14 this year, was functional till 2 pm on March 26, the last day of HSC exams.
3,81,440
No of students who appeared for SSC exams in Mumbai division
137
Exam centres in Mumbai division
416
No of sub-centres u00a0