Pune/Mumbai: Even as Mumbai reported zero cases of copying on the first day of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) board examination, 42 cases were reported from across the state. More than half of these cases were reported in the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division. The number of copying cases reported in the state on the first day of the exams has dropped from last year’s 58.
No other serious issues regarding the conduct of the exam were reported on Tuesday. The board exams commenced with the English language.
This year, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education took extra effort to ensure that exams were conducted in a fair manner. The ‘Copy Mukt Abhiyan’ in this year’s board exams was included in chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s 100-day plan for the school education department.
Among the reported copying cases, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar had 26, followed by Pune with eight and Nashik three. Mumbai, Kolhapur, and Konkan division did not report a single case on Tuesday, the state board’s chairman Sharad Gosavi said.
More than 15 lakh arts, science and commerce students across the state appeared for the exams. In Mumbai alone, 3.4 lakh students are taking the exams, with the highest registration recorded for commerce followed by science.
The state board rolled out drone surveillance, CCTV monitoring, and a sensitisation drive among students about the detrimental effects of malpractices to ensure copying-free exams.
In Mumbai division, comprising six districts, exams were held at 670 centres. Mumbai divisional board chairman Rajendra Ahire said the exams were conducted in a smooth manner across the centres.
Counsellors from Mumbai TOI spoke to said there were only “small queries” from students such as what things can be carried.
At one centre, a student complained that a writing pad was not allowed, said a counsellor, adding the centre was informed that transparent pads can be allowed.
The board is conducting the exams in nine divisions, including Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Kolhapur, Konkan, Latur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Amravati.
The Mumbai division has 15 sensitive centres, of which over 50% are from Palghar, where additional measures have been taken to bring down copying cases. The state board changed 818 exam centres this year, with the maximum (205) from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, as copying cases were reported from these centres in the last five years.