Not allowed to cheat in UP Board exams, students leave money for evaluators in answer sheets

ALLAHABAD: Can’t cheat? Well, then try bribing the evaluator. Strict checks on use of unfair means in high school and intermediate examinations in Uttar Pradesh by the Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad or UP Board has made some students desperate for good marks. They have attempted to bribe evaluators by tucking in money inside answer sheets. Scrambling to nip the evil in the bud, the state Board is reportedly considering a ban on high denomination currency notes inside examination halls from next year.

Reports received from different parts of the state during the evaluation of over 4.30 crore answer sheets at 253 evaluation centres, currency notes of various denominations, including Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500 and even Rs 2,000, have been found in the answer sheets.

On Wednesday, evaluators at the Government Inter College and Kali Prasad Inter College stopped work for some time and had heated arguments with the deputy head examiner (DHE) and the person in charge of the stock rooms (where the Board’s high school and Intermediate examination answer sheets were kept). The DHE and his helper had allegedly closed from stock room from inside and examined the answer sheets before giving them to the evaluators.

Calling the examinees “desperate”, Lal Mani Diwedi, a teacher at Kesar Vidyapeeth Inter College, Allahabad, and state general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Sangh, said “It is true that currency notes are being found in answer sheets at different evaluation centres all over the state. It shows the desperation of examinees who are left with no scope of using unfair means. They opted for offering money to evaluators for good marks. It is a wrong practice but proof enough of strict measures implemented by the Board in its over nine decades of existence.”

Diwedi also suggested that the Board ban currency notes more than Rs 50 denomination inside examination halls, just as calculators, Bluetooth devices and mobile phones had been prohibited. There was no need for students to carry currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 while writing an exam, he added.

Talking to Hindustan Times, UP secretary Shail Yadav said the Board would consider banning high denomination currency notes inside examination halls from next year. “We will take a final decision after consulting higher officials of Secondary Education department and the state government soon,” she added.