1.8 lakh students miss UP board exam after CCTV cameras installed to check cheating

ALLAHABAD: As CCTV cameras were installed in centres to check cheating in Uttar Pradesh board class 10 and class 12 examinations, over 1.8 lakh students chose not to turn up for the first paper. 1.8 lakh students of class 10 and class 12 gave a miss to test on the first day of UP board examinations. 53,100 high school students and 127,726 intermediate students did not turn up for examination on Tuesday, officials said. Board officers claimed the strictness that the government has adopted to check cheating in the examinations has forced the students to miss the test. The government has made it mandatory for examination centres to have CCTV cameras this year. It had said no unfair means would be tolerated and anyone found copying or promoting it would be dealt with strictly. The measures to prevent cheating include frisking students before they enter the examination halls, dividing centres in sectors, appointing administrative officers as sector magistrates and issuing prohibitory orders within 100 metres of the centre. The UP Board examination for class 10 and class 12 commenced on Tuesday and will continue till 12 March. A total of 66,37,018 students have registered to appear in this year's exam — 36,55,691 for Class 10 and 29,81,327 for Class 12. Last year, 1,862 students were caught cheating. In 2017, the overall pass percentage for Class 10 was recorded at 81.18 percent and 82.62 percent for Class 12.