New Examination policy drafted for Uttarakhand Board Exams

A policy has been decided with respect to the arrangement for examination centers for organizing High School and Intermediate 2019 Board Examinations of the Uttarakhand Board of School Education.

In this regard, Secretary, Secondary Education, Dr. Bhupinder Kaur Aulakh, in a letter written to Director, Secondary Education, has stated that in all such government and private aided schools, where the total number of examinees is 75 or more, the examinees for the Board Examination 2019 should be provided the facility of the self-centre. In case of the number of examinees is less than 75, the facility of examination center should be provided in the nearby schools, where the examination center is established. Same examination center should be allotted to all the boys/girls institutional examinees in the nearest school. Secretary, Secondary Education has written that physically abled examinees should be allotted nearest and comfortable examination centres and they should be provided the facility to sit on the ground floor. Orders have been issued that in every examination center, a centre instructor, examination in-charge and two teachers as assistant examination in-charge should be deputed at the concerned centre/school and they should be kept free from the duty of class invigilator. However, in the examination centers, all the class invigilators should be appointed from the nearby outside schools.

Orders have been issued for the deployment of the class invigilator on priority within 8-KM circumference, thereafter deputing at Development Block level and in case of requirement, deployment at the district level. For the work of class invigilator, no deployment should be made from outside the district. It has also been instructed that in case of private boy/girl examinee should not be provided the facility of examination center in their registered school under any circumstances. Instructions have been issued that for the private examinees, possibly the examination center should be at Development Block/Tehsil or a school with clean administrative image, situated on main road adjacent to Development Block/Tehsil. It has been instructed to allot nearest examination centre to the private girl examinees. In the remote schools, where the number of examinees is less than 75, in such schools, the examination centers should not be decided by transferring private examinees from elsewhere. For the purpose of proper examination and effective administrative control, no school should be constituted as an examination center for private candidates only. Instructions have been issued that the examination centres of the registered private examinee should not be interchanged and set up at the registered centres where the examinee is registered. Also, it has been instructed that the same examination center for the private examinee registered with one registration centre, which was set up for them in the previous year, should not be made the examination centre. Instructions have been given to made school having good image and no dispute as the examination centers.

Secretary has directed that in the past years, the schools against whom there have been complaints and adverse reports by the District Magistrates, Education Officers, External Invigilators or any incident of the leakage of question papers or there is any dispute between the school management and the principal should not be made examination center. In the examination centers, wherein for the last three years, district administration, departmental inspector, flying squad and survey officers have been abused or have been subjected to violent activity or in the past there had been incident of mass copying or the government had issued orders of not making any school as examination centre in future or re-examination has to be conducted on account of copying – such schools should not be made examination centre. The examination center should be set up in the examinees district itself. One examination centre can be allotted to examinees from more than one school.

Keeping in view the security of the papers, for setting up the schools as examination centers, some compulsory conditions have been set. In order to make the school an examination centre, the security of the school building is among the compulsory conditions. Besides, the other conditions include school at a secluded place should not be made examination centre; the cell where question papers are to be kept should be strong and secure; the entry/exit in these cells should be from one door only, which has provision of two locks; strong grill in the windows and for keeping the question papers, provision of a steel almirah, having facility of two locks. After being assured of all the above-mentioned arrangements, then only the Chief Education Officer should keep the proposal for making the school as an examination center.

Standards have been set for identifying sensitive and most sensitive examination centres. Such schools have been identified from examination point of view and systems are being strengthened and condition of special proceedings have also been incorporated. The principal of the schools being identified as sensitive and most sensitive should be made the examination superintendent of thse examination centres.

For successful conduct of the school board examinations at sensitive and most sensitive centres, it was instructed that special measures to be taken and Chief Education officer should ensure safety and other arrangements at these centers where there are more boys or the number of boys and girls at a centre is more than 400 students or those centres which are at far off places.

At such centres where complaints of cheating has been received should be declared as sensitive, or attempts by anti-social elements have been made to break the sanctity of the examinations process or indulged in violence or arson, or examinees had misbehaved with the supervisory staff, such examination centres should be identified as most sensitive and principals and senior teachers of government schools should be made examination superintendents..

Such people should not be made examination superintendents, against whom complaints have been received for compromising the secrecy of the examinations or complaints of mass cheating have bene received at examination centres where they were supervisors or any other complaint of irregularity against them in the examinations have been received. Apart from this, Chief education officer on his own wisdom can also appoint some outsider as examination superintendent.

It has been directed that the examinations centres should be at a place where there are sufficient transport and communication mediums, there is safe environment like boundary walls and there is adequate arrangements for safe upkeep of question and answer sheets without compromising the secrecy of the examinations.

It has been directed to appoint a custodian/ class inspector, to appoint custodian from amongst principals of outside schools or senior lecturers and safety of question papers has been jointly given to examination superintendent, custodian and examination assistant.

There is a minimum requirement of 75 examinees at an examination centre. If there are more than 1200 examinees at a centres than such centres should be split in two centres. Under no circumstances temporary arrangements like tents should be erected to conduct the examinations.

It has been instructed that if boys and girls have been allotted different examination centres than such should be indicated by red ink separately. If any complaint is received of cheating at an examination centre, than arrangements for sending flying squad, ban on use of mobile phones by examinees and class inspectors till the completion of examination period has been given. If any teacher,class inspector or centre superintendent is found helping in cheating, than centre superintendents and fly squads have been directed to lodge FIRs against them. For choosing examination centres, the district level committee will have District Magistrate as chairman, Chief Education officer as member secretary, district education officer ( secondary), two senior most principals iunclucing one from rural area as members. For choosing Tehsil level examination centres, the concerned Additional District Magistrate of the tehsil should be invited in the meeting.