From disgrace to praise, UP Board scripts a turnaround
The Board, which now conducts the world’s biggest examination, has scripted this makeover, powered by a raft of strong measures, including a crackdown on the copying mafia, the use of technology and CCTV cameras etc.
The over 100-year-old Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad, popularly called the UP Board, used to be known for all the wrong reasons from mass copying to late sessions in the past. Now, it has undergone a remarkable transformation and gave the high school and Intermediate examination results in 43 days this year with a healthy pass percentage of 90.11% in Class 10 and 81.15% in Class 12.
The time span of the exam, which was about a month earlier, has come down to 13 working days.
The Board, which now conducts the world’s biggest examination, has scripted this makeover, powered by a raft of strong measures, including a crackdown on the copying mafia, the use of technology and CCTV cameras etc.
The examination exercise has comprised over 50 lakh students for the last many years at the secondary level.
Over the years, the state government and UP’s Board decisions of doing away with outdated or irrelevant provisions in keeping with the current times have directly impacted around 12.5 million (1.25 crore) students enrolled in over 29,210 schools (Classes 9 to 12) affiliated to the board across 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh, an official said.
As the then Uttar Pradesh education minister Rajnath Singh had introduced the Anti-Copying Act in 1992, making the use of unfair means in examinations a non-bailable cognizable offence. It was the brainchild of the then chief minister Kalyan Singh who, in his first term, had taken a vow to finish the mafia raj — which included the exam copying mafia. The provisions of the stringent law aimed at curbing mass copying in examinations also included handcuffing of students who were to be sent to jail. It became a law after it was passed by the Uttar Pradesh assembly, an official said.
Rajya Sabha member and former deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, who was secondary and higher education minister of the state in Yogi’s first tenure, said, “When I took charge on March 19, 2017, I was told by the officials that copying mafia dominates UP Board. I called a meeting of principals, officials and sought their help to plug all loopholes. We decided to code answer sheets, took a decision to conduct exams only in centres which have CCTV camera. Took a call to make examination centres only in the government and aided schools and introduced videography of opening of answer sheet seal. All these measures helped a lot.”
“We brought down the number of the board exam days. In the past, the board exam used to be held over a one- month span. It has been brought down to fewer days. It reduced the cost of examinations. The results were declared within a month and we were able to bring the academic session on track, which went haywire before the Yogi government came to power in 2017,” Sharma said.
The decision to seek the help of Special Task Force instilled fear in the copying mafia, weeding out bogus candidates, who used to register from all over the place.
Secondary education minister Gulab Devi said, “Drastic measures were taken by the government to help restore the pristine glory of UP Board. Over 54 lakh students registering for the UP Board exam in 2025 speaks volumes about its growing popularity among parents and students.”
“We have nailed copying mafia, broken their backbone, put an end to bogus students, and conducted the examination in a most transparent manner.”
The Board, which was set up in 1921 at Allahabad by an act of United Provinces Legislative Council, conducted its first examination in 1923.
As per records, 5,744 students appeared in the first Board examinations held at 179 centres in 1923 (5,655 in high school and 89 in Intermediate). In its centenary year (2020), the examinee strength in its high school and intermediate exams increased 976 times, earning it the distinction of being one of the largest examination conducting bodies of the world. In 2025, the board witnessed around 5.14 million (51.44 lakh) students who appeared in its examinations including 2.54 million in high school and 2.59 million in intermediate exams.
In its centenary year (2020), a whopping 56,03,813 students had registered for UP Board’s high school and intermediate examinations. As per the 2019 population figures of 233 nations released by United Nations, population of as many as 118 countries were less than 56 lakh.
Records of the Board revealed, in 1947, the year India achieved independence the examinee count swelled to 48,519 for which 224 examination centres were made. Similarly, the count further increased to 1,72,246 in 1952.
The past few years have actually witnessed a fall in the count of examinees registering for the Class 10 and Class 12 exams. In 2018, the board had attracted 66,37,018 registrations from students for the board exams. For the 2021 edition of the exams, there was a decline in the number of students. And this year it further dropped to little over 54 lakh.
According to UP Board officials, the regular rise in number of examinees in high school and intermediate examinations has also increased work load of the Board.
“The Board has also gradually adopted ways to ensure smooth routine functioning by way of creation of five regional offices over the years and embracing new technologies besides adopting various anti-copying measures for holding fair examinations,” they add.
