By IANS
Lucknow : The revamping of the board examination system in Uttar Pradesh had an unexpected impact. Over 141,000 students of Class 10 and Class 12 have not taken their examinations as copying and use of unfair means was made difficult by the strict measures in place.
“Students who were not studying during the year and were banking on copying and using unfair means to pass the exams, have given it a miss due to the strictness,” said state director of secondary education K. M. Tripathi.
The officials carried out thorough checks at the exam centres to prevent students from taking chits, pocket guides and other material into the examination hall. Many students are said to have fled from the exam centres and decided to take the exams next year.
“The process to revamp the education system had been started in July 2007 itself but the results will take some time to become visible. Many students did not expect that we would go ahead with the strict measures announced earlier,” Prabha Tripathi, secretary of secondary education, told IANS.
The Uttar Pradesh Board for Class 10 and Class 12 was once reputed for high quality curriculum and teaching but the quality had dipped due to infrequent classes and lack of proper infrastructure.
“Under a three-pronged strategy, a diary (schedule) for the teachers has been provided, a calendar was set about what would be taught when and the curriculum was also fine-tuned,” Prabha Tripathi said.
“We expect the situation to improve in two years,” Prabha Tripathi said, adding “it takes no time for something to deteriorate but one has to be patient when one is trying to improve.”
The state government has made compulsory 180 days of teaching in an academic year. With practicals and extra classes, this would add up to 240 days. The senior officials have warned the teachers that strict action would be taken if they were found errant during surprise inspections.
Those abstaining include a number of girl students. “It is true that many girls are also not taking the exams but this is not a gender issue. Whoever did not study has avoided the exams,” K.M. Tripathi said.
The number of students avoiding the board exams is said to be higher in the sub-urban and rural areas.
“Though I cannot give you the exact figures, Ghazipur district has a very high number of students not appearing for the exams,” K.M. Tripathi said. Other districts where the numbers are conspicuously high are Ballia, Meerut, Kanauj, Allahabad and Varanasi.
Copying during board exams is a sensitive issue in Uttar Pradesh. In the 1990s the then education minister and current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president, Rajnath Singh had shown strictness to check copying and drew the ire of many students.