ICSE and ISC examinees and the teachers conducting exams should be under CCTV surveillance during the entire duration of the test, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has told exam conveners.

Examinations should be conducted in a hall and not in multiple classrooms, says a circular issued by the council.

The council said centres that do not have CCTV cameras installed at required locations should make provisions for them by August 16. Each exam’s footage must be preserved till the results are declared.

“The candidates taking the examination and the personnel conducting the examination in the examination hall should be under CCTV surveillance during the entire duration of the examination. The centres that do not have CCTV cameras at the required locations should make provision for the same latest by 16th August 2024,” says the CISCE circular sent to conveners recently.

The circular also said that the “steel cupboard” in the room of the head of the examination centre, where confidential material such as examination stationery
is stored, should be kept under “CCTV surveillance” during the entire duration of the test.

A lack of CCTV coverage in locations mentioned by the council shall lead to the cancellation of the examination centre, the council has said.

“Recording of the CCTV cameras of each day’s examination should be preserved till the declaration of the results. The schools will be required to produce the recording when asked for by the CISCE,” the circular says.

The 2024 ISC chemistry and psychology papers had to be rescheduled.

The chemistry paper was cancelled barely an hour and a half before the exam was to start and the council cited “unforeseen circumstances” for the last-minute change.

After the psychology paper was postponed, the council said one of the centres had lost “the question paper packet”.

“We must ensure that CCTV cameras are properly positioned to capture all students. Usually, 150 to 200 students sit in an exam hall,” said Ian Myers, the principal of Frank Anthony Public School.

Several school principals said they would have to make arrangements to preserve the recording for three to four months.

The exams usually begin in February.

“We usually have the provision to store the CCTV recordings for 15 days. We now would have to make arrangements to preserve the recordings for at least three months,” said Mousumi Saha, the principal of National English School Calcutta.

“We usually do not have CCTV cameras inside the principal’s office but the requirements now are that the steel cupboard should be under CCTV coverage. So we will have to work that out,” said Terence John, the principal of Julien Day School Kalyani.

The circular said that the conveners for the 2025 ICSE and ISC examinations will have to inspect all the exam centres to ensure that the necessary arrangements have been put in place by the head of the examination centre.

The conveners will have to send a compliance report to the CISCE.