On Wednesday, principal of a private school in Uttar Pradesh (UP) was arrested after the video of him giving ill advice to students who will be appearing in board examinations. On Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Board (UPSEB) examination began in UP.
Praveen Mall, who is the manager cum principal of a private school in the Mau district of Uttar Pradesh was video recorded by a student as he was addressing them. In the video clip, Mall was talking to the students, in the presence of parents of some students, and gave advice on how students can cheat in the board exams and beat the measures put in place by the government.
The student uploaded the video clip on the grievance portal of UP’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, along with a complaint.
In the video clip, Mall can be heard saying, “I can challenge that none of my students ever fail… they have nothing to be scared of”. He even said, “You can talk among yourselves and write the papers. Don’t touch anyone’s hands. You speak to each other, that is fine. Don’t be scared. The teachers at your government school exam centres are my friends. Even if you get caught and someone gives you a slap or two, don’t be scared. Just bear with them” in the video which is around 2 minutes long.
The crowd could be heard responding “Sahi hai” (Nice).
Mall, who was arrested on Wednesday can also be heard saying, “Don’t leave any answers. Just put an Rs. 100 note in the answer sheet, the teachers will blindly give you marks. Even if you answer a question wrongly, which is for four marks, they will give you three marks”.
He concluded the speech with the slogan, “Jai Hind, Jai Bharat”.
ANI UP shared the video on their Twitter handle
#WATCH Mau: Manager of Harivansh Memorial Inter College gives instructions to students appearing in state board examination; says 'write your exam with the help of cheating and maintain discipline when your 'chit' is caught'. (18.02) pic.twitter.com/nMeiUQmQai
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 20, 2020
According to a leading news agency of India, more than 56 lakh candidates will be sitting in the State Board Exams for classes 10th and 12th which began on Tuesday. In 2020, the UP Government has put in place even stringent arrangements to keep a check on cheating and may even arrest those who help in such practices.
A state level control and monitor room for the surveillance through CCTV and voice recording has been set up for the same. Additionally, almost 2,00,000 CCTV cameras were installed at around 7,800 exam centres across 75 districts. Close to 2,00,000 invigilators will be present.
UPSEB has branded 938 centres as “sensitive” and almost 400 exam centres “hyper-sensitive” suggesting that they are the centres with the highest chances of falling prey to such practices.
In an unprecedented step, the UP Government has set up a Twitter handle for people to submit their complaints and queries which will provide quick resolutions. The government has also set up toll free numbers, email id, and many helpline numbers for people to use in order to lodge any complaint related to the Board Examinations.
