Summary
Two candidates were caught in a school in South 24-Parganas and one in Asansol
The state higher secondary council has cancelled the entire Higher Secondary examinations of three candidates as they allegedly entered the exam halls with phones on Friday, Day 1 of the exams.
Two candidates were caught in a school in South 24-Parganas and one in Asansol.
Council president Chiranjeeb Bhattacharya said unlike the just-concluded Madhyamik, where 36 candidates had their whole exams cancelled because they clicked picture of question papers and circulated them on WhatsApp, the council detected the offenders before they could make any such attempt.
“The invigilator caught them with phones before they could circulate the
image of the question paper. Their entire exams have been cancelled,” Bhattacharya said.
The council had announced on Wednesday that if an examinee was found with any device such as a phone or a smartwatch inside an exam hall or venue, his or her
entire exam would be cancelled for the year and he or she will not be allowed to “appear for the rest of the examination(s)”.
The three schools were not among the 176 venues that the council had identified as sensitive, where students were to be scanned for devices.
As many as 7.9 lakh candidates wrote the exam at 2,341 venues across the state.
Asked how the council planned to prevent students from entering centres with devices, the president said: “We have to think about ensuring proper frisking in more centres from next year.”
A council official said it will not be easy to deploy
facilities like hand-held
metal detectors in all venues because of the number of examinees.
“We are relying on penal measures like cancellation of exams on being caught with a device to deter errant students,” the official said.
Bhattacharya on Friday announced that next year onwards, admit cards issued to HS candidates would mention the school where they would write the exams.
The council took the decision after it was reported the seven candidates in Malda district went to a school that was not their designated exam centre.
They were later redirected to their designated centres.
Last updated on 17 Feb 2024
