SSC exams end with 140 cheating cases registered

While the Class 10 State Secondary Certificate (SSC) exams ended today, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) was able to control the number of cheating cases this year, and there were no incidents of paper leak which occurred in some parts of the state last year. The MSBSHSE – which has been taking all the necessary steps and initiatives to curb malpractices and cheating cases taking place in the state for the past few years - registered a total of only 140 cheating cases this year.

As per the data shared by the board, in 2023, a total of 116 cheating cases were registered during the SSC examination in the state. Whereas in the current year SSC board exam, a total of 140 cheating cases were registered till the end of the exam on March 26. The highest number of cheating cases were registered in the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar division with 86 cases, while not a single case of cheating was registered in the Kolhapur and Konkan divisions.

Whereas in the HSC exams conducted from February 21 to March 19 in the Arts, Commerce, Science and vocational streams, a total of 306 cheating cases were registered this year as against a total of 345 cheating cases registered last year.

During 2023, there were several incidents that occurred across the state but during the board examinations wherein question papers were leaked, the teachers themselves helped the students by providing copy material and FIRs were lodged in different cases registered under both the SSC and HSC exams.

“The board exams of both SSC and HSC are over now and we are glad that our team was able to prevent and curb the number of cheating cases. We will now be trying to ensure that the results are declared in time and most probably earlier than the last year’s result declaration dates,” said Sharad Gosavi, chairman, state board.

Cheating cases are rampant in exams held at various places across the state. The state board along with all the district authorities is running a ‘copy-free’ campaign to make the HSC and SSC exams copy-free this year. Strict rules have been prepared for the same, flying squads have increased and there has been an increase in vigilance at exam centres through CCTV cameras. Also, the question papers were taken to the examination centre under full protection, despite the large number of cheating cases registered.